Garden Description

Introduction

The garden is intended to be a celebration of city living in a new 21st century city. It reflects the industrial and cultural heritage of Wolverhampton from 19th century through to the present day.

Wolverhampton has a rich tradition of industry and is home to a diverse immigrant community. The garden reflects both the industrial traditions and heritage and the cultural influences that now impact on modern city life in Wolverhampton .

Based on a typical terraced accommodation built around the early 20th century; which still houses a good proportion of the population, the garden subtly brings together those influences to create a modern living space.

The main emphasis of the whole project is to bring together the old and the new, with high importance being placed upon self sufficiency, recycling and regeneration.

Access

The garden is accessed via two steps constructed from reclaimed Staffordshire blue paviers. These are edged using reclaimed railway sleepers. The steps lead to a sunken patio area which itself is edged using reclaimed railway sleepers.

Sunken Patio

Constructed from reclaimed brewery tiles, linking to the brewing heritage of the Wolverhampton area (Banks's and Springfield brewery's respectfully), this area also incorporates a mosaic edge of clay tiles which depict scenes of industrial and cultural heritage.

The reclaimed sleepers edging the patio give an additional seating area that is lined in some areas with cushions for relaxation.

Gazebo

The main focal point is a lean- to gazebo, which has a copper roof with a hammered finish. This is supported by legs made from reclaimed cast iron down spouts (drain pipes). The water from the roof is carried via cast iron guttering to a recycled water butt for use in the garden area.

Rill

To the right hand side of the sunken patio is a stepped rill. This is still darkened water edged using aluminium glazing bars. Floating on the water are rose petals and scented candles to instil a feeling of calm and tranquillity.

Planting areas

The main planting areas are a number of modular boxes that rise towards the gazebo. Mainly plastered these will show original brickwork at intervals from a bygone era.

The plants

The planting scheme is a mixture of traditional plants, linked to contemporary plantings. An emphasis is placed on self-sufficiency and there is to be found both vegetable and herb areas alongside ornamental shrub planting.

The plants themselves reflect the cultural diversity of a city like Wolverhampton, for example 'Eriobotrya japonica' is a plant originally found in Turkey . The scheme is designed to be low maintenance with many of the plants chosen being able to withstand dry conditions, therefore needing very little water or food. Also a cool relaxing atmosphere is created through the colours and textures used.

Garden boundary

The main boundary is a brick wall rising progressively from 1 meter (3 feet') to 2.5 metres (7 feet) at the rear of the gazebo.