The premise of our award-winning Association of Professional Landscapers 30th Anniversary wildlife water garden, Where there’s water, there’s life, is to embrace water. Using natural water management, the aim is to keep it within the garden because water is needed for all life. The garden also creates a complex habitat for wildlife and for people too.
Natural water management
When it rains, water landing on the pergola green roof is captured and slowed by the plants roots before it is channelled into a central gutter and down the rain chain into a decorative water storage unit, which can hold 300L of water.
When this overflows, water passes via a rill into an attenuation pool in front of the deck, which can hold a further 500L of water.
We are seeing 1 in 100 year rain events far more frequently with climate change. The volume of water that would hit the pergola roof during such an event (+20% increase for climate change) is around 800L. The garden is designed to accommodate an additional 1200L of water following such an event.
When the attenuation pool overflows, the water trickles into the wildlife pond. The rain garden, planted with plants that do not mind sitting in water for 24 hours, is at the second lowest pond of the garden (the pond the lowest) and allows the volume of the pond to ebb and flow following deluges of rain.
Water and gardens for wildlife
Many wildlife species live in freshwater for all or part of their lifecycle, so ponds are extremely important habitat within gardens.
The topography of the garden also undulates allowing for water to be contained in the garden whilst creating areas for plants and wildlife that prefer drier conditions.
The planting is also layered both beneath the ground (roots) and above the ground with extensive ground cover and layered planting – both good for helping water to infiltrate the soil and for wildlife that require a complex habitat.
Whilst plants are good for wildlife habitat, some species of bee, for example, need bare soil for nesting and require different substrate types for nesting. In the garden, we included dead wood structures and log piles, bare soil in different aspects (full sun and partial shade) and bare sand on the pergola roof. We also included bee posts from niche environmental for solitary bees to nest. These offer an opportunity to grow populations of solitary bees, such as red mason bees, whilst natural holes within dead wood are being established in a garden.
Gardens for people
Last but not least, this garden is for people too.
The raised walkway leads you across the pond, where you can stop and pause to watch wildlife come and go (within a day of the pond being planted, Damselflies had moved in, mated and laid their eggs on an Alissima sp. plant).
The walkway leads playfully across the attenuation pool and onto a deck that offers a place to sit on the bespoke Field and Thorn woodcraft chairs with accompanying table and enjoy the garden under dappled shade from the sun.
A boulder on the other diagonal of the garden offers an alternative view of the garden, whilst sitting on a hot day on the boardwalk, you can cool your feet in the pond whilst socialising with friends or family.
The garden offers an immersive experience whilst having a positive effect on wildlife, water and the environment in general.
Sponsors
Materials
We used timber for the pergola painted in Brouns & Co. Linseed Oil paint (Chatsworth Blue), exterior bamboo (Moso Bamboo, supplied by Gripsure) for the deck and board walk, the Scottish boulders and rocks were on loan to us from CEDstone, who also supplied the reclaimed whin kerbstones, which we upcycled -making something contemporary from something old.
Plants
The majority of the beautiful multi-stem trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and ferns were on loan from JA Jones Ltd
The mixed native hedge was loaned from Elevedon Instant Hedges
Design & Build Team
Finally the garden was designed by us, Rachel Bailey Studio & built by the wonderful team at Design it Landscapes, lead by Dan Ryan, with other APL accredited landscape teams pitching in: Adscape Limited, B7 Limted, Harrison Landscapes, Habitat Landscapes, and Arlington Landscapes
