Does the garden represent your initial vision? Plants are living specimens — do plans ever turn out differently than expected?
PO: At the start, you only have an abstract vision. You know the conditions, the site, the architect’s building, but you haven’t yet been there in person. You start imagining what could be done — especially when it’s not one garden but a series of spaces, each with a different mood. A lot changed along the way — architectural elements, fences, pathways. You always wait for a ‘final’ master plan, but in practice, it never stays the same. You have to stay flexible.
Tell us about the different ‘concept’ areas within the garden.
PO: On both sides of the garden, there are small woodland areas, ‘garden concepts’, ideas that make each part of the garden feel unique. So, from some entrances, you don’t see the full garden at once. You walk through woodland and then the garden opens up into different types of plantings. There’s a perennial garden we call the ‘robust borders’ and another we refer to as a ‘matrix’ or meadow-type planting, especially around the entrance. Each space offers a different experience.
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