So where did this years story begin .... Back in October I had been talking with potential sponsors about creating a garden and had some promise of sponsorship but not enough to create a garden( with a water company ) I have been massively keen on creating water features and ecological solutions in my gardens and decided to contact the wild fowl and wetland trust to see if they would be interested in having a garden at the show . It all seemed to happen with serendipity in a wonderful way , they invited me to their London centre to show my work and have a chat about the prospects , they were looking at creating a new garden for their Washington centre in Sunderland and had liked my work previously . Deadline date was 2 weeks away so I got busy with designing working with the WWT and submitted on the 20th November then the miserable month of waiting ( will we get in? , I've got my sponsor , got the idea , got the will and the way just need the go ahead ) we got it Yay !! With nothing to change even better !!!
So what's the garden about ?
It's all about collecting rainwater from our buildings and using it to feed into a wildlife water garden ( working wetlands ) to benefit nature and provide a great garden space for people to enjoy . Urban run off is a massive problem for our city's and towns and is a big contribution to our problem of flash flooding when it rains heavily our water system get overloaded and cannot cope . Lots of us have water butts but there is so much more we can do and much more interesting solutions to. The garden collects rainwater from a roof which dances down a repurposed aluminium louvre into a water tank where it is filtered by gravel and marsh plants the clean fresh water travels along a rill into a wildlife pond . Paving slows water to run off into borders and into the pond . When there is heavy rain excess water from the pond flows into a mini pond , bog and into a series of Swales which allow the water to gradually soak into the ground naturally . These different garden conditions provide a wealth of wildlife support and habitats . We can get really up close to see what's going on via a metal platform that hangs out over the pond and bog ( an area you usually can't get close to ). There is also a sculptural rain collecting pavilion to sit under while it's raining , the water collects in the inverted dome roof and channels the water down a spiral and then to the pond via a rill planted with grasses to clean the water . There is going to be lots of lush native planting with a naturalistic feel .
So where are we up to design done , I have visited the site where the garden will end up in Washington ( if you get the chance Sunderland beach is absolutely beautiful ) and Washington is a fascinating place a real mixture of industrial and natural and urban I loved it . The WWT centre there is so friendly and beautiful the wetlands look great there .
I met with the sponsors HSBC water programme who are funding the garden and a waterlab at Washington which will be a great learning space for school kids and everyone who visits too . The waterlab will provide the roof space to collect the rainwater for the pond so you see it's all falling into place beautifully . The WWT team have all been great to work with too so helpful and a joy, I'm loving this project and I can't wait to get stuck in . 
