Jubilee tree
A monumental timber-and-steel sculpture designed by Heatherwick Studio will soar 21m high in front of Buckingham Palace this month to mark the The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration weekend (2-5 June). The timber branches of the tree-like sculpture, Tree of Trees, will support 350 aluminium pots embossed with the Queen’s cypher that will each contain a British native tree. It marks the country-wide planting of more than a million trees that began in October 2021 as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy campaign. After the celebrations, the trees will be donated to selected community groups and organisations. heatherwick.com
1. APL AWARDS
A scheme that merges two dated gardens in west Berkshire into a single unified space has been named Supreme Winner in the 2022 APL Awards. The design and build, by Andrea Newill Garden Design and Simply Green Landscapes Ltd, features naturalistic planting that sits comfortably in a rural setting. A low brick wall encloses a wide terrace for dining and entertaining next to the house, with a barbecue area and space for a hot tub. Brick steps lead up to an oak pergola and on to the games room, an area of wildflowers and a woodland garden that includes a water feature and bespoke bench. aplawards.co.uk
2. HAREWOOD HOUSE TREEHOUSE
Sylvascope, a treehouse at Harewood House, West Yorkshire, is one of 15 projects featured in the Harewood Biennial 2022. Designed by Sebastian Cox and built by Root and Shoot, using wood harvested from managed woodland, the treehouse is made from Douglas fir and larch, with strips of larch forming the woven circular walls. Seeming to float above the ground, it’s supported by cantilevered beams fixed to existing trees, and will become a permanent addition to the estate. The Biennial, on the theme Radical Acts: Why Craft Matters continues until 29 August. harewood.org
3. NORTHERN DESIGN AWARDS
The landscaping of a new housing development on a former brownfield site has won the Landscaping Design Award in the Northern Design Awards 2021 for Layer Studio. Just a ten-minute walk from Leeds city centre, the Climate Innovation District development on the banks of the River Aire is a car-free landscape with a grassy green street and semiprivate gardens at the front of the properties. Rain gardens and a SUDS system slow rainwater, as do the sedum roofs. Peaceful Riverside decks and terraces provide communal spaces with views across the water. layer.studio
4. WILDFLOWER MEADOWS DUNDEE
Some 34 acres of new wildflower meadows in the city of Dundee are bursting into flower this summer, as a precursor to the proposed opening of Eden Project Dundee. Eden’s Scottish home will transform the former Dundee Gasworks on East Dock Street. The first site to be planted up in this two-year project, funded by Alexander Moncur Trust and NatureScot, is a five-acre open space at Seabraes, approximately a mile from the Gasworks. This and two other wildflower sites will provide spaces for people to relax, and also additional habitats for pollinators and other wildlife. edenproject.com
5. RHS COMMUNITY GARDENS
The four winning community gardens of the RHS Garden Day Competition – one in each UK country – have been announced. In Northern Ireland, garden designer Johnny Knox has devised a wildlife-friendly scheme (above, top) on a former railway viaduct in Randalstown for a group of volunteers in Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council. In Scotland, Semple Begg’s scheme for Friends of Barshaw Park, Paisley (above, bottom), uses curved raised beds that reflect the famous paisley pattern. Bees and beehives are the inspiration behind Arit Anderson’s design (below left) for an English community growing scheme in Coneygear Park, for Huntingdon in Bloom, which includes fruit and vegetables. While in Blaenavon, Wales, a patch of wasteland will be transformed by Victoria Wade into a 300 square metre-garden (below right) with seating areas, a pizza oven, dining space and a greenhouse. rhs.org.uk
6. PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW
UK designer Ann-Marie Powell is exhibiting at the 2022 Philadelphia Flower Show, the world’s longest running flower show, which this year is being held outdoors at FDR Park. Responding to the show’s theme In Full Bloom, she has designed a vibrant garden full of pollinator-attracting flowers planted around a wildlife pond, with a log stack wall and wavy golden rods providing vertical elements. US landscape architect Martha Schwartz has designed a brightly coloured installation in the shape of a giant, flower-like mushroom that celebrates fungi and their health benefits for humans. Philadelphia Flower Show, 11-19 June. phsonline.org