Graduate Landscape Architect / Garden Designer job  opportunity with Kirman Design.

www.kirmandesign.co.uk

Kirman Design is an established multi-award winning design practice based at Bents Garden & Home, Glazebury, Cheshire (Garden Centre of the Year). Work comes from across the Northwest including Cheshire, Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire.

We are looking for a professional, motivated and enthusiastic graduate landscape architect ideally with at least 1 year’s experience, with good communication and presentation skills, able to manage and exceed customer’s expectations whilst dealing with suppliers and other partners. The office is busy and candidates must be able to think on their feet, work with a hands on, proactive approach and be able to work on their own initiative.

We have a diverse and growing portfolio of varied projects. The job will entail a degree of travel, in order to undertake site work, and consequently applicants should hold a full UK driving license. We are able to offer a competitive salary, commensurate with experience. We offer opportunities to strengthen or learn new skills and will encourage and support candidates on the Pathway to Chartership.

Key skills required:

• Creative flare

• Excellent customer service

• Professionalism

• Good attention to detail

• Good organisational skills

• Knowledge of CAD (Vectorworks preferred) 3-D visualisation an advantage

• Computer literate and proficient in MS Outlook, MS Word and MS Excel

• Ability to work autonomously with a hands on approach

• Driving licence and own transport

• Experience in industry

Person Specification

• Good at dealing with people: Customer service skills

• IT skills: Word, Excel, CMS, Outlook, Vectorworks and Photoshop

• Good attention to detail

• Willing to work weekends and Bank Holidays

• Trustworthy

• Work autonomously

• Knowledge of plants

Please email laura@kirmandesign.com with your CV and examples from your portfolio or call Andy on 07909 525500 for an informal chat about the job.

Extra Time for Tatton 2012…

The last week was supposed to hail the announcement of the six shortlisted gardens for the Young Designer of the Year Award 2012.  Unfortunately the RHS judging panel has been postponed the decision until the end of the February.  This has meant that the unavoidable waiting period has been extended.

The planting within the garden has been carefully selected for purpose, practicality and aesthetics.  Within any garden the planting has to be planned to provide year round interest but the shared element of the garden creates and interesting aspect: Do you try and cater for different planting styles, how do you maintain it and who retains ownership of the plants?

•  The simplest of these is maintenance which has been kept to a minimum, within reason, however from talking with Housing Developers they regularly employ a garden maintenance contractor to look after open public spaces therefore the garden would fall within their package of work.
•  Rather than use multiple planting styles (prairie, cottage, vegetable beds etc.) I have kept a consistent contemporary feel of planting coupled with a wide range of plants, from edibles to perennials, to create a pallet of plants to (hopefully) cater for everyone’s interests.
•  Ownership is the interesting one but by incorporating annuals and edibles within the garden I hope to engage the users of the garden to become grow and tend to plants within the garden.  Not only does this tackle the maintenance issue (on an improved basis) but it encourages interaction between neighbours about what to grow and what to do whilst getting everyone together in a communal space building the all important community.

With this in mind I have selected plants to compliment the different areas of the garden:
•  The breakfast bar/cooking area has a small kitchen herb box with a selection of popular annual herbs for close to hand flavours and spice.  The herb box is complemented by a selection of hardy and perennial herbs within the raised planting beds.
•  The children’s and teenage area is planted with perennials and easy to grow fun annuals that provide a rewarding outcome such as sweetcorn.
•  The central table contains a planting rill which contains a careful selection of colourful edibles salad bar annuals to brighten up any plate of food as well as the conversation.  Plants include lettuce, chard and beetroot.
•  The planting within the raised beds provides year round stimulation with structural deciduous shrubs, evergreen perennials, grasses and spring bulbs.  The specimen trees provide height and structure and will be underplanted with a range of complimenting perennials, bulbs and grasses.  The borders are intermixed with structural herbs and annual vegetables to provide some food for the cooking for entertaining and to entice the garden’s users to get involved.

Due to the importance of the annuals within the garden we have a major decision to make before the RHS can announce the six shortlisted gardens: When to start growing the annuals for the garden.  With the RHS’s decision moved until the end of February it gives very little time to get a kick start with growing the annuals for the garden.  Therefore we have opted to start growing the time consuming vegetables, herb and edibles to make sure we have enough annuals of the high quality needed ready for the show.  If worst comes to worst and the garden doesn’t get selected we will have a large selection of vegetable and annuals to distribute around to our friends and neighbours.

Lewis

Last week saw the completion of another Kirman Design and build project.

Having met with the client back in September, we have progressed steadily on this project for a simple, yet modern garden design in Liverpool.

The garden is set within a modern housing estate and the house incorporates clean lines, contemporary materials and unfussy detailing.  The clients wanted a garden that reflected this sensibility but with elements of a ‘real’ garden,  quite dense areas of planting with herbs and perennials and fruit trees as well as planting that encouraged birds , bees and butterflies.

The garden BEFORE

The Garden offered a ‘blank canvas’ just ripe for development.

The Garden Design:

The design reflected the linear quality of the house and the plot but sought to add interest by incorporating a level change on the naturally sloping site which graded up by approximately 30cm from the house to the rear boundary.
As the house faces North the area immediately next to the rear double doors does not get much light so we decided to add 2 further seating areas, one to the right to make use of the west facing evening light and also served to make use of the garage wall and one to the top left which gains the light mid-late morning (during the summer months mainly as this is a 3 storey building).  This also provides a vantage point from which to view the house and garden at a different aspect.

The building of the scheme was very straight forward and achieved on time and budget by one of our talented teams of landscapers.  We were lucky, considering the start date of the build was mid-January that we didn’t experience too extreme weather – (though I’m sure the coldest day of the year so far was the one day that I was on site planting!).
The planting was  important in this scheme, to encourage the desired birdlife into the garden as well as providing culinary herbs and fruit trees.  Climbers have been planted to help screen the garage and the rear seating area and will provide: scent (Rosa ‘Souvenir de Docteur Jamain’  climbing rose) colour (Clematis ‘Jackmanii) and multiple seasons of interest.

The angular components of the design and the use of stone plank style paving create interest and along with the contemporary styled trellis give a more modern aesthetic to the linear garden design.

The garden AFTER

I’d like to return to this project in the summer to take photos of the garden with the planting at its best – the mixed perennial and grass border at the back will look fabulous once everything is in bloom.
Jo

Plant List:

Plant name
Rosa ‘Souvenir de Docteur Jamain’
Chaenomeles spec. ‘Moerloosei’
Choisya ‘Aztec Pearl’
Clematis ‘Jackmanii’
Clematis in variety
Lavandula ang. ‘Hidcote’
Fruit Trees – Malus ‘Braeburn, Malus ‘Beauty of Bath’, Pyrus ‘Conference’
Pittosporum ten. ‘Tom Thumb’
Pyracantha Saphyr Rouge
Sarcococca confusa
Acanthus spinosus
Achillea mil. ‘Paprika’
Anemone x hybrida. ‘Honorine Jobert’
Aster frikartii ‘Mönch’
Calamagrostis acut. ‘Karl Foerster’
Digitalis in variety
Helleborus niger
Herbs – in variety
Heuchera ‘Marmalade’
Heuchera ‘Obsidian’
Knautia macedonica
Rosmarinus officinalis
Salvia nemorosa ‘Mainacht’
Stipa tenuissima
Verbena bonariensis
Phyllostachys aurea
Ferns in variety

With the decision date fast approaching for the 6 shortlisted gardens to be announced aspirations are rising and apprehension is in the air.

The RHS are soon to announce their 6 chosen shortlisted gardens however there is still a lot to do. We are currently trying to secure the remaining sponsorship for the garden with over a third still being sought.

We are happy to announce that Global Stone are on board with their brand new range of contemporary paving wish they are looking to launch at the show. Click the logo to look at their existing range of stone.

The past fortnight has seen the completion of the designs for the eight surrounding gardens. Although these gardens will not be built at the show they provide the missing piece to the picture proving that the compact gardens can be transformed into a contemporary useable outdoor space. Each of the 8 gardens has been designed with a particular client in mind, from a newly married couple on a budget, an option for someone partially sighted or blind and a garden intended as a bachelor pad built for entertaining.

The plans below give some idea of howe the full space would work, complete with all eight houses and their private gardens (roughly around 2/3 the size that they would have been before the transformation).

One of the key sustainable features that we are looking to unveil at the flower show (providing the garden is chosen of course) is the use of geocellular storage units. These are simply engineered egg crates assembled together which act as a storage tank for rainwater. With the ever increasing problems caused with flooding, new developments whether housing estates or commercial, are both having to implement Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to mimic the natural drainage of a site and essentially reduce the risk to the environment and surrounding neighbourhood.

I have calculated the rainwater runoff from the eight surrounding houses and through the use of the volumes of the garden and geocellular storage, this provides a means of storing the water to safely discharge into the natural watercourse. This provides a cost effective solution to managing rainwater runoff whilst greatly improving the aesthetics of the housing estate and without harming the environment.

More next week about the garden.

Lewis Williams

RHS Tatton Show Garden Tatton Park 2012 Application Video Blog

To view the video diary, click the link below:

Lewis Willams Video Blog 22 01 2012

More information can be found by clicking here.

As a design & build consultancy, naturally we are concerned with the aesthetic impact of our designs as well as the workmanship of the projects that we undertake.

As part of our commitment to providing a professional and qualified approach to our work, we try and constantly upgrade our own abilities and field of knowledge.  Both Andy and I believe that we should progress professionally and so we’ve planned various ways in which we can supplement our existing knowledge base.

With this is mind I recently embarked on training for my ROLO card.  Now I know it sounds like a chocolate based treat but ROLO actually stands for ‘Registration of land based operatives’ and is a qualification recognised (and run by) the British Association of Landscape Industry (or BALI as it is more commonly referred to.)

BALI brought in the ROLO scheme to:

• Provide a means of identification.
• Keep a record of workers in the landbased industry who have achieved a recognized level of competence.
• Raise the standards of Health and Safety to reduce the risks and accidents throughout the industry.
• Encourage employers to use only ROLO card holders who have accredited Health and Safety Training.

Now, as a designer it is easy to get wrapped up in the final look and feel of a project so this has been a real eye-opener to me in terms of looking out for potential problems on site.  I think that Health and Safety has got a bad press in recent years because of the commonly held attitude that it is there to interfere or nag at, whilst in reality it is of utmost importance that we protect ourselves, our landscapers and our clients from potential accidents on site.

So, having completed the course and being fully ‘carded up’ I am up to speed now on risk assessments, good working practices, health and safety at work and generally making a nuisance of myself on site (no change there then !)

Here’s to a happy and healthy new year for all of us.

Jo

With the New Year comes a new venture … well I lie, an already visited venture just reworked and refined…

The National Young Designer of the Year Competition run by the Royal Horticulture Society and the Society of Garden Designers has become a regular feature at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire.  This year Kirman Design has entered a garden designed by myself, Lewis Williams.  The competition is open nationally to designers aged 28 and under and gives three garden designers the opportunity to build their garden at Tatton Park Flower Show with one garden winning the coveted Young Designer of the Year Award.  Tatton Park Flower Show showcases the best innovative and creative garden design in the North West and the Young Designer competition is just one category of the show gardens that fits within this agenda.

The Young Designer competition in now in its third year and the first time the competition was launched was when the original concept for my show garden was born.  Back in October 2009 I started to design version one of my show garden inspired by the classic Mediterranean courtyard garden surrounded by white washed apartments.  The two underlining themes of the garden were:

1: To create a communal space for neighbours to socialise and build a community – this is something that I perceive has very much disappeared in today’s society.
2: To increase garden users space – it is becomingly increasingly more common for modern day housing to have a very small outdoor space.

The concepts work well together by providing a communal space so neighbours also get an increase in their useable outdoor garden area.

Below is the plan of the show garden.

The garden is based on a real life housing estate in the North West and sits centrally within eight neighbouring gardens.  The surrounding houses form a ‘U’ shape bounding the gardens on three sides.  Of the eight houses there are 4 detached 3 bed houses and 4 terrace houses each with 3 bedrooms.  The garden size for the detached houses is around 85m² and 35m² for the terraced houses.  By using approximately a third of each garden space I have created the communal garden measuring 100m² which greatly increases the residents’ outdoor garden space.

For more information about the garden then please click here to go to the section of our website.  Keep checking in weekly for more information about the gardens development and aspects of the garden.

Lewis

Andy & Jo hope you have had a happy and peaceful Christmas, and wish you all the best for 2012.

So here we are in and a new year has arrived. Is it me or does the Christmas holiday build up get longer and longer whilst the actual Christmas period tails off without delivering what the pregnant pause insistantly promises?! No, I’m not ‘Humbug’ as I do enjoy the only time of year when we really can put our feet up, I just don’t enjoy the hype that goes with it.

Anyway, here we are in January, 2012 with an exciting new year ahead of us. I say exciting; you will hear more of that in subsequent blogs but let’s look at January first. Did any of you know that each month has a birth flower? The cynic in me tells me that the whole thing was created by a greeting card mogul whose brother owned a plant nursery but still!

Galanthus has become increasingly popular over recent years. Certainly not quite as popular as Tulips when ‘Tulip mania’ the Dutch economy in the early 1600′s. Nether the less, they have become increasingly popular over the last few years, with rare bulbs changing hands for over £50. Galanthus are one of the first bulbs to flower in the spring, usually making an appearance in February whatever the weather.  Its’ nodding white bell shaped flower signalling the start of the end of winter.

The name ‘Galanthus nivalis’ has been derived from the Greek words; ‘gala’ meaning milk; ‘anthos’ meaning flower and ‘nivalis’ which means snowy.  Although the common name of snowdrop has of course been derived from the fact that it is supposed to resemble drops of snow. It is  the best-known representative of a small genus of about 20 species in the family Amaryllidaceae.

The pretty, harmless looking flower does however come with a punch. One of the active substances found in the plant; galantamine is said to have been used as an antidote to poison in past times. Today galatamine is used to help treat patients suffering from mild to moderate Alzheimer’s.

Have a birthday coming up this month? Click here to send a Galanthus ecard?

Andy

For me, the plant that has given the most pleasure this month is the humble Malus sylvestris, or Crab Apple.  The often overlooked sister of the domestic fruiting apple (Malus domestica) is a great addition to any garden. 

These low maintenance, small, rounded trees are great for small gardens as they will make an eventual height of 8-12m (but commonly quite a bit less) and will tolerate a variety of soils and light conditions rewarding the gardener with beautiful white and pink blossom in Spring.
 

 
For me though, it is the Autumn show of fruit which is the real scene stealer.  The yellow, orange or red fruits seem to dangle deliciously from the bare branches like opulent little Christmas baubles, that is until the birds strip them as Winter fodder!

You can, by all accounts make the crab apples into a rather lovely jelly, which would be a great seasonal thing to do for all you foragers out there but don’t be tempted to try the uncooked, unsweetened versions straight from the tree as it may result in a nasty tummyache.

 Jo

We’re delighted to update you about the very latest project that we have finished building for a young couple who wanted a modern contemporary space to compliment the interior styling of their home.

The original lawned area in this garden sloped down by some 800mm from the ground level at the house to the lowest point which meant that the garden was not useable in any real sense. What was required was a complete rethink of the levels which would be practical, beautiful and in budget!

Garden Before Design and Landscaping Work

Garden Before Design and Landscaping Work

Garden Before Design and Landscaping Work

Garden Before Design and Landscaping Work

DESIGN

Work on this sloped, domestic garden space at a new build property in Widnes began back in August and after a number of design consultations we came up with a scheme that incorporated a sunken rear patio area with feature planting beds which made the most of the existing terrain, whilst providing useable, attractive space to entertain and relax in.

Plan of Designed Garden

Cross Sectional Drawing of the Designed Garden

SPECIFICATION

Further consultation involved showing the client various samples of stone and pebble mulch to complete the plan of work before moving onto specification for our talented team of landscapers.

LANDSCAPING

The final phase, to begin the build was very exciting, we set a timescale of 3 weeks to complete the landscaping with the first week being dedicated to digging out the rear patio area and creating a level area for the new lawn in front of the conservatory. Retaining walls were built using dense concrete blocks, later to be rendered and dressed with contemporary light fittings.

Landscaping Work: Part Completed

As the client wanted a clean, modern feel we chose sawn sandstone which looks like it could’ve come from an interior space, feels luxurious and will wear beautifully, if looked after, to retain it’s original beauty.

The planting has an exotic feel to it, using Trachycarpus fortuneii which is hardy down to around minus 15 degrees c alongside, Fatsia japonica, Phyllostachys nigra (Black bamboo) and a feature planter containing a fabulous Dicksonia Antarctica (tree fern) (which has been since fleeced and wrapped up for winter.)

Both client and designer are chuffed with the finished result which is a tribute to the time taken to plan and design the garden and to the hard work of our friendly landscapers who have realised our initial dreams from paper to 3D !

Finished Garden After Design & Landscaping

Finished Garden After Design & Landscaping

Finished Garden After Design & Landscaping

Finished Garden After Design & Landscaping

Jo