Nothing makes me happier than seeing a true expression of someone in something that they create. Whether it’s art, clothes, architecture, or a garden, the realization of an individual vision is what makes being a designer fun. So even though you might look at this garden and not see the designer beauty, I assure you that it is there. It is the vision of what I call a Forest Temple.
Forest Temple is a garden style I named in my 2014 book – Cultivating Garden Style. This is how I described it:
Please, don’t assume that I expect you to have or want to plant a forest or build a temple. Rather, I propose you think of the forest temple as a design reference for those of us tree people, fairy lovers, and wood nymphs re-incarnated. It is for those who love to be under a canopy rather than out in the open and who find solace and peace in being surrounded by trees and greenery.
Forest temples are divine answers to vacant or over-grown urban lots, courtyards, greenhouse gardens, tiny green patches – wherever you can fit one – and, of course, gardens that naturally incorporate the woods. I’ve even experienced one once on the roof of a department store in Central London.
A forest temple just barely gives the sense of being cultivated and it often has haphazard planting. Don’t create a forest temple if you want to cut flowers. This is a garden where, instead, you will be able to enjoy the fleeting beauty of an ephemeral or a single stem here and there. They can be created from scratch (as is the garden of Clive Rundle) or they can be managed to enhance something that already exists. Wherever it is, they are all-encompassing with warmth and patina borrowed from nature. Woodland plants, textural trees, green walls, dangling vines, mossy pots, the smell of earth, and the sound of barely trickling water create the mood and fill the senses in this garden.
Clive Rundle is a fashion designer whose reputation for fantastic runway shows makes him the star of Johannesburg Fashion Week in South Africa. His victorian gardens, 15 years in the perfecting, are a cultivated and refined study in rambling neglect.
For this planting style to work, it is important to think in layers.
First, have a leafy canopy in place. This provides the shade and the sense of protection and enclosure that defines this type of garden. If you don’t have full-grown trees, then maybe woody vines such as grapes or roses can be trained over a pergola to create the canopy.
It is also possible that the canopy is the overhang of an upper-level deck or balcony, the roof of a greenhouse, or, if small enough, the dappled shade provided by a container-planted tree.
Once the canopy is in place, add texture with hanging plants and medium-sized trees. Dwarf conifers and mid-sized shrubs like blueberries can fill out the lower middle layer.
A lush green canopy covers most of this garden with vibrant green leaves and really makes you feel like you are in a forest. The canopy provides shade, habitat for wildlife, and contributes to the overall health of the environment. A healthy leaf canopy often indicates a thriving ecosystem.
Fill the floor of the garden with woodland plants, ferns, vines, and moss. Moonflowers, roses, epimedium, and vining plants will tie the layers together as they snake through and climb or ramble.
Trillium, astilbe, and a healthy selection of lower-ground plants (roots and tubers) that give seasonal ephemeral beauty provide little fleeting sparkles of color.
Remember that once the leaves are gone from the trees, the entire garden will be entirely different. Rather than walls of green, you will find you have architecturally interesting branches and stems and the option to grow plants that will enjoy the little bit of sun available before the leaves set on in the spring.
Try colchicums, bloodroot, and snowdrops to create interest in the earliest of spring.
Timeworn and timeless: The remnants of a fashion designer’s Victorian garden in South Africa. This Victorian garden table is a beautiful and elegant addition. Victorian tables typically feature intricate designs, scrollwork, and ornate detailing that capture the charm of the Victorian era and are made of durable materials like wrought iron or cast aluminum.
Because the joy in this type of garden comes from the natural rambling it is ok to let it look a little haphazard. You will save yourself some backbreaking maintenance labor if you accept that this type of garden will have a strong will of it’s own and that at least a few weeds should be welcomed.
Remember that once the leaves are gone from the trees, the entire garden will be entirely different. Rather than walls of green you will find you have architecturally interesting branches and stems, and the option to grow very early season plants that will enjoy the little bit of sun that is available before the leaves set on in the spring.
Don’t try to keep plants separated. Encourage them to not only ramble, but get right up in each others business. Roses or other vines growing through nearby trees or shrubs, and over other features should be encouraged as it adds to the natural tapestry.
A Victorian water feature typically includes ornate designs, intricate detailing, and a classic aesthetic. These elegant features often incorporate elements like tiered fountains, marble statues, and lush greenery, creating a charming focal point in any garden or outdoor space. This is much more simplistic and gives away that this garden is perhaps not actually victorian – more a study in design style, but with more practical modern touches.
Rusty Victorian-style garden furniture helps to give the garden a sense of time.
This imaginative water feature makes me think it is the remnants of an old-fashioned water filtration system from the Victorian era. But in fact, it is a newly designed water garden made purely to make us wonder.
Elegance in decay: A fashion designer’s touch is to create decay in order to make it appear to be an overgrown Victorian haven.
The house has a grand Victorian style pool in the backyard.
Nature reclaims this fashion designer’s pool. In Clive Rundel’s Victorian dream garden, fabricated history, style, art, and nature entwine in an unexpected way.
Nothing is pruned (except roses), and what some would call messiness is purely by design. It is a haven of untouched splendor – just what the designer wanted.
Read more at Visi and in the Gallery.
All images provided by Clive Rundel
The post Clive’s Neglected (on purpose) South African Victorian Style Garden appeared first on PITH + VIGOR by Rochelle Greayer.
Defining a Forest Temple Style Garden
Forest Temple is a garden style I named in my 2014 book – Cultivating Garden Style. This is how I described it:
Please, don’t assume that I expect you to have or want to plant a forest or build a temple. Rather, I propose you think of the forest temple as a design reference for those of us tree people, fairy lovers, and wood nymphs re-incarnated. It is for those who love to be under a canopy rather than out in the open and who find solace and peace in being surrounded by trees and greenery.
Forest temples are divine answers to vacant or over-grown urban lots, courtyards, greenhouse gardens, tiny green patches – wherever you can fit one – and, of course, gardens that naturally incorporate the woods. I’ve even experienced one once on the roof of a department store in Central London.
A forest temple just barely gives the sense of being cultivated and it often has haphazard planting. Don’t create a forest temple if you want to cut flowers. This is a garden where, instead, you will be able to enjoy the fleeting beauty of an ephemeral or a single stem here and there. They can be created from scratch (as is the garden of Clive Rundle) or they can be managed to enhance something that already exists. Wherever it is, they are all-encompassing with warmth and patina borrowed from nature. Woodland plants, textural trees, green walls, dangling vines, mossy pots, the smell of earth, and the sound of barely trickling water create the mood and fill the senses in this garden.
Clive Rundle’s Neglected Victorian Style Garden
Clive Rundle is a fashion designer whose reputation for fantastic runway shows makes him the star of Johannesburg Fashion Week in South Africa. His victorian gardens, 15 years in the perfecting, are a cultivated and refined study in rambling neglect.
Layering Woodland Plants in a Forest Garden
For this planting style to work, it is important to think in layers.
First, have a leafy canopy in place. This provides the shade and the sense of protection and enclosure that defines this type of garden. If you don’t have full-grown trees, then maybe woody vines such as grapes or roses can be trained over a pergola to create the canopy.
It is also possible that the canopy is the overhang of an upper-level deck or balcony, the roof of a greenhouse, or, if small enough, the dappled shade provided by a container-planted tree.
Once the canopy is in place, add texture with hanging plants and medium-sized trees. Dwarf conifers and mid-sized shrubs like blueberries can fill out the lower middle layer.
A lush green canopy covers most of this garden with vibrant green leaves and really makes you feel like you are in a forest. The canopy provides shade, habitat for wildlife, and contributes to the overall health of the environment. A healthy leaf canopy often indicates a thriving ecosystem.
Once the Canopy is Established – Fill the floor of the Garden
Fill the floor of the garden with woodland plants, ferns, vines, and moss. Moonflowers, roses, epimedium, and vining plants will tie the layers together as they snake through and climb or ramble.
Trillium, astilbe, and a healthy selection of lower-ground plants (roots and tubers) that give seasonal ephemeral beauty provide little fleeting sparkles of color.
Remember that once the leaves are gone from the trees, the entire garden will be entirely different. Rather than walls of green, you will find you have architecturally interesting branches and stems and the option to grow plants that will enjoy the little bit of sun available before the leaves set on in the spring.
Try colchicums, bloodroot, and snowdrops to create interest in the earliest of spring.
Timeworn and timeless: The remnants of a fashion designer’s Victorian garden in South Africa. This Victorian garden table is a beautiful and elegant addition. Victorian tables typically feature intricate designs, scrollwork, and ornate detailing that capture the charm of the Victorian era and are made of durable materials like wrought iron or cast aluminum.
How to Create the Forest Temple Planting Style:
Because the joy in this type of garden comes from the natural rambling it is ok to let it look a little haphazard. You will save yourself some backbreaking maintenance labor if you accept that this type of garden will have a strong will of it’s own and that at least a few weeds should be welcomed.
Remember that once the leaves are gone from the trees, the entire garden will be entirely different. Rather than walls of green you will find you have architecturally interesting branches and stems, and the option to grow very early season plants that will enjoy the little bit of sun that is available before the leaves set on in the spring.
Don’t try to keep plants separated. Encourage them to not only ramble, but get right up in each others business. Roses or other vines growing through nearby trees or shrubs, and over other features should be encouraged as it adds to the natural tapestry.
A Victorian water feature typically includes ornate designs, intricate detailing, and a classic aesthetic. These elegant features often incorporate elements like tiered fountains, marble statues, and lush greenery, creating a charming focal point in any garden or outdoor space. This is much more simplistic and gives away that this garden is perhaps not actually victorian – more a study in design style, but with more practical modern touches.
Rusty Victorian-style garden furniture helps to give the garden a sense of time.
This imaginative water feature makes me think it is the remnants of an old-fashioned water filtration system from the Victorian era. But in fact, it is a newly designed water garden made purely to make us wonder.
Elegance in decay: A fashion designer’s touch is to create decay in order to make it appear to be an overgrown Victorian haven.
The house has a grand Victorian style pool in the backyard.
Nature reclaims this fashion designer’s pool. In Clive Rundel’s Victorian dream garden, fabricated history, style, art, and nature entwine in an unexpected way.
Nothing is pruned (except roses), and what some would call messiness is purely by design. It is a haven of untouched splendor – just what the designer wanted.
Read more at Visi and in the Gallery.
More Inspiration for Woodland Gardens
- How to Design and grow an Edible Forest Mushroom Garden
- Plant Palette: Dusty Victorian
- In the Garden with …. Clive Nichols
- Shinrin-Yoku: A Mini-Meditation Guide to get the best out of Forest Bathing
- Garden Designers Roundtable: 5 Inspiring Stone Gardens
All images provided by Clive Rundel
The post Clive’s Neglected (on purpose) South African Victorian Style Garden appeared first on PITH + VIGOR by Rochelle Greayer.