Adam Frost

Last weekend was great. We held our landscape construction course at Barnsdale Gardens, where I was lucky enough to have worked for so many happy years. I run the course with David Stevens, or I should say Professor Stevens!! The man’s a bit of a legend in the garden design world and, for an old fella, his enthusiasm is second to none (joke David)! Anyway, the weekends are really good fun. Everyone gets stuck in spending half the time in the classroom and the other in the garden. In two days we get though a lot; setting out, laser levels, materials selection, construction detail to mention a few, we even get the students to lay paving and construct walls. Everyone seemed to love it, even when it started to rain, snow and hail (honestly) - well we did want to show them what it is really like to be a landscape gardener!

Though it’s first and foremost a construction weekend, we always end up talking design. To me, design and construction are very closely linked - perhaps not in other industries, but in garden design I believe it is imperative to have a good understanding of construction methods. As a designer, I think it makes you more rounded and makes it much easier to communicate with your landscaper. The best designers hold their landscapers in high regard, and so they should. A good landscaper can teach you so much about detail and problem solving – when you think about it so much of the job is to solve problems.

I hope our students had a lot of fun went home exhausted and of course informed. but more than anything i hope we gave them the enthusiasm to want to learn more or maybe even lay a few more bricks… remember Churchill loved it! We’re very lucky to be involved in an industry that helps shape our landscape for our future. I know that probably sounds a bit deep, but we do. I just wish the education in our industry was more joined up and it wasn’t so difficult to find a route through. I’m also keen to do all I can to ensure that the landscape industry is appreciated for its true value and I know that education will help us achieve that.