Rain , first day of summer and a happy dad

It's all go and I'm feeling a little manic right now there are a Million things to do , phone calls , emails , visits , still more sourcing , form filling , organising- the list is endless , it has been a freezing week , wind,  rain , cold, more like the first week of winter not summer . Sunday was lovely we visited friends in York drinking cider in the sunshine ( the last day off I will have for quite a while ) then Monday came with the wind and rain . But it's all good because we we're in the shed , I may have mentioned that my dad is truly a brilliant human being and I'm very lucky to have him as mine ( I need to say now my mum is just as wonderful ) not only does he have a farm yard full of wonderful rusty objects I can pilfer and regenerate into new leases of life . He doesn't need the shed until the harvest comes in so we get to take over for a month . As if this wasn't enough he has been working his socks off turning my design into a reality . This is by far my most ambitious project and I'm really excited with how it's panning out so far . There have been so many happy coincidences , perfect fits , and lightbulb moments . One of the best things has been the working out and problem solving getting our Brains working to make the different elements work , especially dad - he loves a challenge and there have been plenty of those . Work has gone great on the circular platform and the water feature for the wing gazebo . Brian has been back and forth picking stuff up like hard wood bog mats from Marwoods , and tools etc . The other day we went to the most amazing stone yard come reclaim yard come landscaping centre Bannolds in Fen Drayton Huntingdon . It poured it down but I was in heaven every type of stone you could imagine , boulders , slate , features , beautiful display gardens and all surrounding a beautiful barn conversion . I left soaked but very happy , then onto Barchams to pick out my final tree selection , more rain but some lovely trees . Then back home to check on progress, it's great having my A

team around me to get things done . 

A long journey

It was going to be an interesting day out, maybe for the wrong reasons ! It started with a pointless argument with Brian  about something pointless . 

I had bought two galvanised tanks for the garden that we needed to collect and had arranged to visit a man called Steven at Elston sawmill about some oak seats for the garden. We set off early on Saturday went the wrong way ( thought the satnav was lying to us ) anyway arrived at destination tank pickup and met a lovely couple tending their garden I even ended up with three tanks . So tied them down and off we set to Stevens sawmill when the truck started making noises louder and louder we limped to a village and asked someone if there was a garage nearby there was but it might be closed so like a snail we arrived at the garage , they had a look and the problem the  wheel bearing had gone , they were about to close and we would need to collect the truck next week . Oh dear so we walked the mile back to the village down a picturesque lane, rang a taxi and caught the train back to Peterborough just in time for Brian to make dough for his restaurant. Truck less tankless and oakless  .

On the bright side the garage are fixing the truck it could have gone on the A1, we got back in time the sun was shinning  and we had an adventure together. And most importantly  liking each other again .The follow up is the following Thursday with the truck ready to collect and fixed we went to see Steven at his sawmill talked about the seats he can do them , and he is a throughly nice man too with lots of lovely bits of wood , then we picked up the truck and headed home .

Time for a change

Time for an update the design has changed slightly in regards to the rain collection gazebo , I was having lots of problems sourcing a roof for my gazebo , I wanted it to be a rain collector but was always concerned about losing precious space underneath the canopy , as well as keeping it visible . Prices for a large polycarbonate dome were really high and I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to create it within budget and even if it would be any good when done. I just didn't feel right about it . So I did what I always do went walk about the yard , when you look with an open mind suddenly the possibilities become endless and magic seems to happen I was looking at some left overs from an art  piece I created last year from one of dads grain silos and thought if only it was bigger it would make a great roof , I pondered this idea and slept on it still stressing over the dome  situation . Next day talking to Brian he said about having a look at options and pointed out the bigger grain silo and said it could be cut down and used for the roof , aha were on the same wavelength and there the idea came . I spent the evening drawing up the new plan . I felt so much happier and suddenly the project sprang into action. Dad came over and we set about carving the silo up. it looks pretty crazy  and when on the fork lift it looked like something from madmax .

Sourcing materials and getting projects done

It's been a very busy time of late , my head is in so many places and projects , I wouldn't change it though as its all exciting and challenging and interesting. Things are starting to happen with the show garden preparations,  I've been to barcham trees in Ely to pick out the trees for my WWT working wetlands garden supported by HSBC . I've bought reclaimed stone and granite , I've got my hands on a fantastic huge metal ring which will make a great floor edging for the water collection pavilion and metal grating for the platform and raised path, I've been sourcing curved corten steel which I will be cutting one of my designs into soon . Talking to a boulder man in Wales and much more . In between all this I've created a chefs garden for a fabulous new restaurant in Peterborough "Prevost" opened by the amazingly talented chef Lee Clarke . It's quite a small garden but should be able to produce a lot of edibles for the kitchen, large galvanised panels have been repurposed into growing tables and galvanised baskets I picked up from an antique fair have made great planters for micro leaves and pea shoots , metal grating inset with gravel for the floor and a massive galvanised circular planter houses an apple tree with meadow planted below. The theme is very industrial and a bit vintage too , it has been a quick project but I've loved it .I have also been working on a project in Sleaford creating a new planting scheme to go with a William Pye water feature but more on that another time . Oh and I've been visiting some great nurseries too picking plants for the show garden and different jobs and not being able to resist a few for my garden too! My garden has also had a bit of effort put into it with a new patio using some lovely Victorian pavers , I decided to lay them in sand to make it permeable . Brian made a great table out of cedar and a Galvanised panel from a sound proofing booth .im really pleased with how it turned out .

 

Water water everywhere

I am so excited that I can reveal the plans for my new show garden at RHS Hampton flower show this summer . This years application has felt a little bit disjointed as application deadline was back in November which seems like an age ago and I found out we had been accepted just before Christmas ( nice Christmas pressie ) but not allowed to shout it from the roof tops until late Febuary . So here I am in April ( oh my where has the time gone ) ready to have a shout about .

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  . 

Country living article

After the success of  Rhs Hampton last year , photographer Jacqui Hurst got in contact with me with the view of photographing my metal work and studio and garden to put in a magazine , great I thought but also will my garden be good enough for the shots . I've been so busy my own garden is often left till last on the list of jobs and she is a wild at heart kind of girl , couch grass , nettles and sticky weed wait until I'm not looking and then grow at the speed of light and try to cover my borders  ( I'm sure they do ) and I'm just not a consistent gardener maybe one day I will train myself to become one. Another task to add to the list . Anyway I digress so Jacqui was coming to photograph so I got busy tidying my garden and studio and when the day arrived in late October we had a lovely day , then 5 months later in March I get a call from country living saying they would love to do a feature on my garden design work and could Jacqui come and photograph some more with summer in mind . Well my garden definitely wasn't feeling very summery it was cold wet March then a multitude of jobs came in show proposals ,one man exhibition etc , please don't think I'm complaining I thrive on being busy but I just didn't know if my garden would make the grade for country living so once the work was done I cracked on again and managed to tame her a bit and prettify her as best I could and feeling worn out posed for photos , and then last night I bought a copy of country living and the article is lovely , Jacqui's photos look wonderful and Paula Mcwaters wrote a great article which captured me and my work perfectly . It was a relief , the hard work had been worth it . What's funny is about five years ago I wrote a list of goals I wanted to achieve -build a show garden , win a medal , win gold at an Rhs show , be in a magazine like country living! I think I may need to come up with some new goals . But I might just make sure I have a little holiday first . 

Decorative shadows exhibition

I've been offline for ages sorry about that . I either haven't had anything to share or have been too busy to post maybe it's more like getting out of the habit! anyway the past month has been a bit mental what with meetings in Boston about some planting schemes and working on my own garden ready for photos and working on clients gardens I've also manage to squeeze in time to produce my first solo exhibition in about 14 years . It's called Decorative shadows and will be unveiled on Thursday 7th of May at the private view 6-8pm at the Peterborough Museums City gallery 3, the exhibition will be on show until 7th June . I have worked really hard on a new body of work which I hope will be well received. Here's a bit of info about the background to the work.

This exhibition has been an exploration of various belief systems, religious practices and spiritual rituals: to sit in a temple, to meditate in front of a mandala, to pray on a prayer mat. It is concerned with how objects and belief systems may make us feel safe, happy, virtuous, or give us a sense of belonging and inner peace. Jeni has always had an interest in eastern and western philosophies and religions, in particular observing the important role symbolism, decoration and pattern plays within them.

 

The metalwork pieces are inspired by ancient and historical patterns, decoration and representations of nature, some with hidden meanings and symbolism. Shadow and light play an important role to draw on ideas of perceived realities that do not actually exist (the shadow) and the reality that can be touched.