In the Spring of 2007 the London Garden Design Co designed and built the gardens for Channel 4's Grand Designs eco-friendly houses in Dulwich, South London (televised in May). Bill Bradley of Talisman (www.ecoism.co.uk), the man behind the build, recognising a similar ethos in our garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2006, commissioned us to undertake this project.
Bill wanted his planting scheme to be big, bold and dramatic complementing the striking design of the houses themselves. To this end a pallet of lush, sub-tropical, jungle planting was chosen with key species including Golden Bamboo, Trachycarpus Palms, Yuccas, Tree Ferns and Bananas. Splashes of vibrant colour were provided by Ginger Lillies, Bird of Paradise plants and Bottle Brushes.
Hardwood decking forms the basic structure of the garden complementing the Western Red Cedar clad house, and provides an ideal backdrop to this very striking planting plan. At night the garden is at its most spectacular with up-lights showing off the architectural specimen planting, LEDs set into the decking and Bruce Munro's (www.brucemunro.co.uk) innovative field of light adding a further dimension creating the perfect outdoor living space.
