Last week Trulawn went to Grand Designs Live at the ExCel Exhibition Centre in London to check out the latest trends in garden design. Whilst there we saw some great exhibitors and innovative products, but one prevailing theme: spherical, circular designs.
This was evident in the show garden designed by Caroline Jenkins who included circular stepping stone areas, water feature and round benches in her submission. Designs that include circles have a certain way of impressing partly because of the skill involved in producing perfection. It is not something that can be easily done by free hand, and a design that has not been measured accurately is not hard to spot.
Circular designs have long had association with the stately home. The swirling, circular designs present in the gardens of Versaille and cut into the grass certainly look impressive. One of the most common forms of topiary is also the cutting of hedges and bushes into spheres or round shapes. But these are generally found lining the grounds of old buildings, churches and institutions where a gardener is employed to handle the regrowth!
Round designs were also heavily present at Grand Designs Live in garden furniture, with statement chairs that invite communal sharing. These were not small pieces either, but enough to fit three or four people inside. Perhaps inspired by Arthurian legend, round furniture is a symbolic gesture of community but also simply a way of being able to see everyone at once!
Artificial grass is a practical choice if you are thinking about creating a garden that incorporates circles. Some of the main benefits include the fact that it is cut to absolute precision, and that it will not grow out or become distorted over time. At Trulawn we are very familiar with installing grass of unusual shapes with regular installations of putting greens and around children’s play areas. If you are about to embark on an ambitious garden re-design consider using artificial grass to achieve absolute precision.
