Jean Gavin, the Headgardener at the Hidden Gardens, gives us an insight into the creation of the brand new Scottish Ballet flowerbed.
I thought it would be nice for me to give you an insight into the making of the new Scottish Ballet sponsored border here at the Hidden Gardens behind Tramway.
The original idea came from the significance of Scottish Ballets arrival at Tramway back in July 09. Throughout the summer months, it was great after so many months of building work to finally get to know and work with some of the staff from Scottish Ballet as well as getting to know and recognise some of the dancers. Gradually, as the months got warmer, more and more of Scottish Ballet's staff began to use and enjoy the gardens during their lunch and break times. The Gardens soon began to play host to a new audience, and their presence became integral to the space. So much so, I thought it would be relevant to mark in some way Scottish Ballet's arrival at Tramway and The Hidden Gardens in a horticultural, botanical way. What better way than to let the Autumn Programme inspire the planting design itself!
Original sketches for the ballet border.
Getting to work on the garden.
The main inspiration to celebrate Scottish Ballet 40th Anniversary and arrival at Tramway came from the colourful and glamorous performance Rubies (1967), choreography by George Balanchine, music by Igor Stravinsky. To reflect the Rubies theme, the planting within my design is predominately ruby red coloured, including red winter berries and rich ruby flowers as well as evergreen structure. In particular, plants such as Gaultheria mucronata, Cotoneaster ‘Coral Beauty’ and Hamamelis ‘Diane’ are included within the design. Coloured lighting has also been incorporated, in particular to punctuate and highlight the planting over the dark winter months. Ruby jewel-like aggregate stones are also included as channels of sparkle and texture within the layout of the planting plan. It was great to have members of the Hidden Gardens Board make such a valuable contribution at the initial design stage in relation to plant choice and the overall layout of the Border.
The Ballet Border, looking towards Tramway.
Scottish Ballet dancers Diana Loosmore and Paul Liburd at a photocall to mark the unveiling of the border.
One of the biggest challenges in the design of this border was ensuring that the planting had both seasonal interest and ‘wow’ factor in the depths of winter. Not an easy task, but nature never truly lets you down, and it’s really amazing that plants such as Cornus Alba Sibirica, Helleborous and Skimmia rubella can still be showstoppers in the depths of winter. It’s also been a real delight to watch and photograph over the autumn and early winter months the gradual seasonal colour change of the border as well depending on the weather, the movement and stillness of the plants themselves.
Close up on the border.
First frost sets in.
I hope visitors to the Gardens will continue to enjoy The Ballet Border, watching the subtle seasonal changes develop till Springtime next year. I hope we can then draw more inspiration from Scottish Ballet Spring, Summer seasonal programme to create a bespoke summer planting plan that celebrates dance and is inspired by dance. You never know we may even persuade some members of the company to get their wellies on and help out with the planting!
Jean
Special thanks from all at the Hidden Gardens to our new neighbours for making this venture possible. Special thanks also to our ace team of volunteers (Taskforce and Greenfingers) for clearing and planting up the site, Garden Assistants for their invaluable help, and Fiona for taking some great photos too.