Meadow garden for Highnam Court, Gloucester

The transformation of the five ha area at Highman Court, Gloucester is a collaboration between landscape architect Brodie McAllister FLI and one of his former students, Chris Trollope...

Meadow garden

Meadow garden in bloom Click on image to view gallery

Visitors to the gardens at Highnam Court, Gloucester, can now enjoy the addition of a beautiful meadow garden.

 

In an area that once contained the dumped remains of slit from the adjacent dredged lake now sits a meadow garden for all to enjoy.

The transformation of the five hectare area at Highman Court, Gloucester, is down to landscape architect Brodie McAllister, who was assisted by one of his ex students, Chris Trollope.

Speaking about the project, McAllister said the main challenge was “fitting a new garden into the context of a re-interpretation of an historic estate, delivering a simple, bold and sustainable design that fits with the scale of the location and improves biodiversit, while at the same time enhances the visitor experience”.

In order to achieve the final outcome, outbuildings were demolished and sight lines adjusted so that the new vistas from the centre of the colourful meadow aligned with other key landscape features. A spiral mound was then created in the centre to afford visitors a great view.

Rings of cherry trees help reinforce the circular pathways around the meadows and a new lake edge path runs up to a giant igloo shaped steel arbour where willows are being trained to enclose the outer form. The idea is that the project will evolve as the trees and willow mature.

The initial ideas for the project were first devised when McAllister and a team of his then students conducted an exercise to demonstrate what could be done with the site for the client Roger Head. The final design was then refined following further discussions with the client.

The gardens are open to the public on key dates in the summer. For more details visit www.highnamcourt.co.uk

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