Landscape & Urban Design Issue 39 2019 | Page 51

GARDEN DESIGN The pillars culminate to form a curved bench representing the pinnacle of the garden, whilst providing a space to sit and contemplate one’s life journey looking back over the path that may have been taken. Selected primarily due to its impressive environmental credentials, the Kebony wood pillars are a physical representation of time itself, sometimes moving faster, sometimes slower. Developed in Norway, Kebony’s revolutionary technology utilises sustainably-sourced wood with improved durability and stability, ensuring that the integral aspects of the installation (the bench and pillars) are both to the highest quality, promising strength and resistance. Rough stepping stones representing ‘The Path of Life’ have also been incorporated into the design to demonstrate that at times there are different paths that could be taken – some hard to follow, some difficult to reach. Around the stepping stones Roberts has ensured the planting is bright and vibrant to convey youth and vitality at the first stage. The square stepping stone frames built from corten steel are filled with yellow quartz paddlestones to symbolise multiple decisions that need to be made dictating the path of life. Rough under foot and uneven in texture, the paddlestones are layered in the same direction to provide a feeling of flow through the garden. Three pools of water incorporated into the garden signify the challenges of life and obstacles that must be overcome; two pools of ‘troubled water’ border the garden, appearing as black water turbulent and unsettled. Contrastingly, the central pool which remains still and reflective must be crossed to continue the path of life; without a bridge one must take a leap of faith - a step into the unknown. Adjacent to the pools of water are a number of different sized Caledonian boulders strewn throughout the garden to represent friendships that have grown over the years, whilst the split boulder after the reflective pool illustrates the coming together of two people. Through the introduction of planting Kebony’s International Sales Director Roberts skilfully depicts life’s Adrian Pye added: adversities and challenges with a very dark and sombre palette over the garden’s central stage encroaching from the edges and culminating around the pools of water. However, the planting towards the bench at the rear has a much more relaxed and softer feel with the use of grasses such as Deschampsia cespitosa and “The team at Kebony are extremely impressed by Lawrence Roberts’ design and attention to detail which is evidenced throughout his installation at the Hampton Court Show. We were fascinated to discover how Kebony has been used to illustrate Hakonechloa macra. the notion of ‘Pillars of Time’, and Designer Lawrence Roberts, Elements Eyes’ is a unique and well thought Garden Design commented: the overall concept ‘Through Your out initiative that has been cleverly depicted by Elements Garden Design.” “I have never wanted to create gardens that cost the earth. For me, hardwood timber no longer represents a viable choice, the chain of custody is often dubious and I can’t pretend to be oblivious to the problems in the countries where the timber originates from. Kebony offers a real solution - it’s sustainable, traceable, organically treated and, to top it off, a beautiful and versatile timber to use.” www.kebony.com [email protected]