Garden GALLERy
RECENT PROJECTS
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Rocchetta Palafea
Nick’s first project in Piedmont was his own garden. Originally a completely empty blank space - with nothing but wild grasses and the ubiquitous Robinia trees - the design incorporates soft, curved beds and Mediterranean inspired planting to create a lush, relaxed series of interconnecting ‘rooms’. The design takes into consideration full sun during the day, the hillside micro climate and the strong winds that often cut diagonally across the site. As the garden is approached from a long, descending driveway, the focal points in the garden are designed to lead the eye through the various spaces to a circular seating area towards the rear of the land, viewed through a rose covered arch.
The photos above are of the garden.
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Santo Stefano Belbo
This garden was designed to work with existing and newly planned architectural elements to create a structured space with practical planting. Climbers of differing types and curved beds / large planters were introduced to create character and softness, and a circular seating area was introduced to create a shaded, calm spot in a garden that is in direct sunlight for most of the day.
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Calamandrana
With this walled garden, where each side represented a different length and angle, and where the land undulated, the challenge was to create a design that worked in harmony with the house and table / socialising area. Soft, curved bedding was employed to create greater flow / journey, and a planting scheme was created focused on blues and whites, as well as shrubs that will perform well in shaded areas.
WHY SCAPINO?
Scapino is one of the commedia dell’arte’s lesser known roguish, romantic characters, from whom we derive the modern word ‘escapade’. My background is originally in music, specifically composition, and one of my early musical heroes was the British composer, William Walton. First performed in 1941, his virtuosic overture inspired by the Jacques Callot drawing of Scapino (right) was the first CD I ever purchased. I still have it and love Walton’s music just as much today. I was also inspired by his life in and love of Italy, where he lived from the mid 1950’s. I also hugely admired the remarkable garden he and his wife Suzanna created on the Island of Ischia - La Mortella - and in my twenties would joke to friends that at some point, I would move to Italy and create a garden of my own (never believing for a moment it would come to pass). Today, whilst still very much a work in progress, and nowhere near as grand, I have seen this dream realised. I felt I should in some way acknowledge my debt to the great man, his wonderful wife Suzanna, who I met several times, and the legacy of their magical garden - a place that in no small part began my own personal journey to Italy and to making and having a passion for gardens today.