Northumbrian Landscaping - Beach Bears
Client Bear Nibbles
Designer Northumbrian Landscaping
Suppliers Gateshead Council, Jewsons, Lumena Lights, Wilkinsons Landscapes
One of Northumbrian Landscaping’s favourite recent projects was a coastal garden called Beach Bears. Peter, from Northumbrian Landscaping, says the garden was a pleasure to work on. "Almost all of the materials were recycled from driftwood and other things found floating around in our local waters," he explains.
The design of the garden centres around a sunken fire pit incorporating a raised semicircular driftwood deck. The planting is coastal-hardy and low-maintenance, which was an important part of the brief. Pines such as Pinus pinea and Pinus densiflora ‘Low Glow’ were combined with olives, Olea europea and perennials such as Cape Daisies ‘Zanzibar’ and ‘Fire Burst’ were used to reflect the southern hemisphere origins of one of the client duo, while herbs were used to provide the preferred diet of the other.
Sourcing the boat for the arbour was a challenge because Peter wanted to use a local Northumbrian coble. He scoured the North East coastline and eventually found "the only boat in existence that ticked all the boxes". Once salvaged, the restoration work began to transform the old craft into a romantic arbour.
The judges said: "This scheme has taken reuse and recycling to the limit — timbers from Tyne Docks, driftwood from the nearby coastline, half an upturned clinker-built boat as an arbour and local gravel and aggregate combine with excellent maritime planting to create a beautiful scheme that is brought to life at night with whimsical lighting. This is a masterpiece of imaginative in-house design and build."
Domestic Garden Construction, cost under £30,000 - Award sponsor: Ground Control
Design & Build Award sponsor: British Sugar TOPSOIL
