Photography courtesy of Society of Garden Designers.
The Society of Garden Designers Awards are a great way of taking the temperature of British garden trends. Here I pick out the common threads that run through this year’s winning designs to find you the best ideas to steal for your own garden in 2018.
Modern Metal
Modern manufacturing techniques mean there are endless ways of utilizing metal in modern gardens: It’s both durable and beautiful.
These were created by Neil Lossock of Dragonswood Forge in Herefordshire, UK, with a laser-cut fern design that casts shadows onto the beds below, filled with rhythmic plantings of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Morning Light’ and lamb’s ears (Stachys byzantina).
Photograph by Richard Bloom.
Emily Erlam won the Roof Garden category for her Kings Cross penthouse garden: She divided the huge rooftop terrace using multisectional steel planters that wrap around the edges and provide privacy and protection from wind.
Tiered Fountains
Erlam also commissioned bespoke metal fabricators Outdoor Design of West Sussex in the UK to make a 1970s-inspired water feature in aged bronze.
Cor-Ten Raised Beds
A more organic style of steel turned up in Ian Kitson’s North Wales estuary garden, which won in the Hardscape category and was joint winner in the Medium Residential category too.
Cor-Ten Curves
Sue Townsend incorporated the look in more a modest space, deploying Cor-Ten steel edging to the curving beds of her city garden, which was a joint winner in the Garden Jewel category.
Pine Trees
Photograph by Marianne Majerus.
Pines were all over the show gardens at Chelsea last year, and this trend is being played out in real gardens too.
Pines take center stage in the simple design, with sculptured bonsai Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) dotting the space, and mounds of cloud-pruned pines below specimen pin oaks (Quercus palustris).
Photograph by Richard Bloom.
Rooftop Conifers
Emily Erlam also made excellent use of dwarf mountain pines (Pinus mugo) in her roof garden, taking advantage of their toughness and ability to withstand high winds—essential for a garden that’s 13 stories up.
Photograph by Marianne Majerus.
Many of the gardens employed drift or linear planting to great effect.
Container Plants
For those of us with modest plots, Jane Brockbank, joint winner in the Garden Jewel category, shows how simple terracotta pots filled with treasured plants can be elevated—literally—by displaying them on an unfussy concrete bench: including, of course, the almost obligatory pines.
A woven willow sphere by designer Robert Myers.
Circular Arguments
Aerial Views
Designer Anne Windsor transformed a barren, sunless courtyard of a four-story apartment building in Manchester to win the Big Ideas, Small Budget award. I love the way that the design works on ground level but is maximized when viewed from the walkway above.