Before we can create, we must conceive. Last Monday’s
gathering of the Folkestone Harbour garden group was a breath taking journey of revelation and it’s
starting to feel as though our garden areas will be brought to life through a
process of detection and discovery that inspire the imagination.
Which is, I suppose, a fancy way of saying that we explored
the harbour railway yard and found a lot of promising materials and we examined
the beach and railway line and found some exciting plants. Frankly this was
quite a relief, since we have set ourselves the aim of using what already
exists on site – and now we know that there should be enough choice of
materials and flora to make that a practical – even exciting – proposition.
Stone, timber and metal are traditional maritime materials
used to make piers, harbours, defence walls, so they are very suitable for our
gardens, combining well with shingle.
We found a veritable mountain of large pieces of rock that can
punctuate designs and act as sculptural objects in their own right.
We were
excited to see massive chunks of timber that once supported Folkestone’s pier; they
are thought to be green oak from Canada and around 200 years old. We also saw
the potential for frilly columns that have been removed from the building that
was most recently Onyx night club.
On the beach we were inspired by the impressive clumps of
sea cabbage that thrive there. Could we transplant them? Should we transplant
them? We might have to in order to save them when the seafront development
starts.
Louella and Wendy Ward are painstakingly examining the
plants that currently flourish between the old railway tracks. They are posting
photographs on the SALT: Shingle Garden Project Facebook page inviting ‘name that plant’. Even if you haven’t
a clue, it’s fascinating to see the comments of those who know.
On Monday we started to get to know the delicate yellow toad
flax, Valerian with its cherry red flowers, willow herb whose seeds travel the
railways, yellow horned poppies, which surely deserve to thrive for their name
alone, the humble yet imposing thistle. And more random individuals like a
seedling elderflower tree.
With every discovery come new challenges:
Now that we are identifying a wide range of plants, we need
to know them as annuals, perennials or shrubs, to decide whether transplanting,
gathering seed or taking cuttings may be the best way to use or reproduce them
in the garden. With the input of our Facebook readers, enthusiastic volunteers
and our expert adviser, Frances Tophill, this process is underway.
Now that we know there are materials with fabulous
sculptural potential, we need sculptors to come up with ideas for fashioning
them into wonderful art, paths and seats that will grace the garden areas. And
people willing to handle an angle grinder, welding tool or paint brush to bring
the ideas to life. Interested? Please contact Louella at louella@folkestonefringe.com
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