The power of plants
Every day this week, I have planted something new. I have walked away from the screen and the endless ‘to do lists’ and ventured into the garden to give plants a ‘home’. At the end of each day I have walked around our garden, checked in on these plants and gained immense satisfaction from their flourishing. Getting outside, feeling the earth on my skin, hearing the buzz and smell of nature makes me happy, gives me focus and brings me a real sense of calmness. This ‘time out’, however brief has become a vital part of my every day and of my ‘well-being’.
Designing to heal
As Landscapers we work with garden designers to build beautiful spaces for our clients. We know what a huge difference good design and build can make to people’s lives. Gardens can be many things; an extended living and entertaining space, a peaceful retreat, a place to grow food and plants, a creative outlet, a children’s play area. Of course, what gardens vitally provide is a real connection to nature. A good designer will listen to the needs of a client and create beautiful, functional, bespoke spaces that really fit the brief. When a build is complete, it’s a great feeling when a client is delighted with a space that will really make a difference to their lives. I am increasingly realising just how transformative people’s relationships to their gardens can be. I have been thinking in particular about designing to heal and about spaces that elevate pain and stress. I’ve been thinking about how the environment you spend time in fundamentally influences your mental and physical state. I have also been considering the power of plants both in relation to their ‘actual’ ability to heal and in the healing power of their very presence. The next few posts will focus on some of my thoughts around these issues. Here I wanted to concentrate on the wonderful world of A.S Apothecary.
The wonderful World of A.S Apothecary
The healing power of plants is a well-known and age old wisdom. The leaves and petals of numerous plants can be used for medical infusions, teas, oils and compresses and these can be an effective and transformative treatment for all types of conditions. Amanda Saurin is the founder of A.S Apothecary, a small batch distillery, based in Plumpton, East Sussex. Amanda is a traditional Apothecary and has worked with herbs and homeopathy for many years developing effective, gentle, bespoke preparations.
Last year, I was lucky enough to take part in a workshop run by Amanda for Lewes Women in Business at the home of A.S Apothecary. First we harvested bundles of exquisite smelling and rich coloured petals from the growing garden and when our baskets were full we went indoors to lay our gathered flower heads on large tables. Groups of us talked, laughed, plucked and gathered together the petals in preparation for the drying and distilling process. Amanda and her team create truly top quality and bespoke products and it was inspiring to witness the care, precision and wisdom through which this alchemy happens. It was a real privilege to be part of the gathering process, to physically touch and smell such an abundance of petals and to share and hear stories and memories evoked by the smell of these beautiful flowers.
A special santuary
There has been much made recently that soil is good for you, that it has a bacterium that triggers the release of serotonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. These findings make real sense to me and add to understanding why people place such importance on creating their sanctuaries outside. For me, a day spent at A.S Apothecary triggered the same mood elevating, anxiety decreasing, generally feeling great about everything response! It’s worth checking out the fantastic range of courses Amanda runs. My particular favourite is Seed to Scent – A journey into gardening, scent and well-being. Next one scheduled for 2017. There are many shorter courses which I would highly recommend checking out – they are all good for the soul!
Amanda’s journal is a treasure chest of ideas and thoughts and a recent addition on #slowbeauty is a lovely read. Amanda feeds her plants with organic comfrey tea, which exemplifies for me her tender approach, wisdom and respect for the plants she works with, the core ingredients for her extraordinary products. I finish with a quote from Amanda’s writing on #slowbeauty. These words resonate with me and capture beautifully why so many people get such a true sense of calmness and perspective through engaging with growing and nurturing their plot of land, however big or small.
“I love the idea that everything works out in the garden if we trust that it will. If we can allow ourselves the time to gently work with the soil and the plants, the flowers will follow with or without us. It gives perspective on our place in the scheme of things and provides comfort in the knowledge that nature reproduces not because of us, but rather despite us – in the best scenario we are just the facilitators of the flowers we hope to encourage.”
Amanda Saurin from #Slowbeauty – An Asapoth Interpretation
Notes:
As a member of Lewes Women in Business I was lucky enough to be invited to Amanda’s workshop last year. The course Seed to Scent is a wonderful collaboration developed between Amanda Saurin from A.S Apothecary and Catherine Cridland of Inviting Spaces, both members of Lewes Women in Business.
Lewes Women in Business is a not for profit community group that helps professional women with independent businesses in the Lewes District make connections. An A.S Apothecary workshop is coming soon, available exclusively for members.
Check out membership details, I highly recommend it!
Something a little more visual today with my images of reflections, textures and decay. These make up a few of what I’m calling my ‘palette of pauses’, evidence of what stopped me in my tracks, what made me look and look again. Lush green foliage, decaying and delicate flower heads and leaves, views up to the bright and moody beyond or within the magic liquid ‘canvas’ of water. Design inspiration and memories made. Touch, texture and bold shapes – always good to look again at what and why something caught your eye.
It was a show with some great show gardens. Our highlight amongst many, was 
This year’s conceptual gardens had the theme of ‘sensations’ where designers were asked to create immersive and interactive installations. From a design perspective many chose to invite the ‘audience’ in, breaking down the barrier of the show garden’s fourth ‘wall’ as it were. So the 
The message that the designers of these gardens were aiming to communicate were, of course all very different. What interested me most was how the audience responded, they were delighted by the invitation of interactivity through the design, at being ‘participant’ in the experience. I wonder if this trend will develop further.
So, it turns out our kids are not interested in learning about Isaac Newton’s theory of gravity – well not yet anyway! It also turns out, to my shame that I knew very little about it! In an ideal world, we would have sat around this scion of an apple tree and paused for a stimulating, educational moment. An act of paying homage to the original tree which, it is said inspired Newton’s theory when he watched the apple fall. I would have then given an articulate breakdown of his theory and explained its significance! Instead I spent a while trying to get a photograph in bad light and the wrong season while the kids and their friends ran full steam ahead to explore the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens.
The Glass house has to be a favourite. You walk in to a warm and exotic hub of the strange and beautiful. The kids were still a step ahead pretending to be in different parts of the world as they entered each glass house room – Australia, Asia, Africa. The big, the bold, the green and the luscious foliage fascinated them. I was lagging behind spotting animals in plants!
I realise as I write this that this strange (and now slightly obsessive) occupation may well have been inspired by my maternal grandmother, who kept a beautiful country garden. She would amaze her grandchildren by showing us the hidden dragons of the snapdragon flowers and how with just a hint of a squeeze these dragons would come alive and open their mouths. I remember it so vividly…on a hot summers day, hunting with my brother for the ‘dragons’ in the garden. In the glasshouse I spot a mole peeping out from an Orchid and a splendid elephant charging from another. The child in me wonders if they come alive at night! So many vivid colours and shapes – I could have spent hours exploring this place.
The best find by far was the grass maze – discovered by the kids and played on vigorously. Not a grand maze, but one you could very easily create yourself in a large outdoor space. A simple chair in the middle and concentric circles of planting with access gaps. A chair that became a throne, the grass that becomes the sea, the trees, the mountains – a living moving canvas that invites the kids in and becomes a great space for role play and imagination. So simple and so much fun! So much better then screen time play!
At the time of our visit many of the planting beds were in development or waiting to come into season, but you only had to look at the huge range of trees and shrubs all around us to get the most wonderful textural feast. Peeling bark exposes deep grooves and rich colour, the delicate new blossoms look stunning overhanging the many areas of water and you can get lost in the intricate and rich patterns of the foliage. This garden is well worth a visit just to catch a glimpse of these botanical delights.
Our favourite February moment is already here and is happening this Saturday 7th February. Seedy Saturday 2015 is run by the brilliant 
We get great inspiration from these kind of events – a lovely vibe with the hall filled with people who are really knowledgeable about gardens and horticulture. The gardening top tips you get are nuggets to treasure. Full of wise gardeners who have been working with and nurturing seeds forever it seems.
Our little’uns always come away having made something beautiful and learnt something about how we look after the wildlife in our garden. Our garden birds are already salivating in expectation of the bird feeders they will almost certainly be creating. Our favourite Lewes based willow Artist Annemarie O’Sullivan featured in our last 
As much as we love Lewes, sometimes this Lewes Landscaper needs adventure outside of stunning Sussex! St Ives bound and ready for the rugged Cornwall landscape, there was one garden location that was top of the list. The Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden is based at Trewyn studios, now the Barbara Hepworth Museum, where she lived and worked from 1949 until her death in 1975. The gloomy clouds and bursts of rain meant I had the garden almost to myself.
What a privilege it was to see so many of Hepworth’s sculptures together in one space in the 
knowledge that most of them were positioned there by the artist herself. I loved the framing of nature through her bold shapes and the peek-a-boo glimpses of the other sculptures beyond. Garden design inspiration comes from so many forms but Hepworth provides particularly rich pickings. A must for a St Ives visit.
Much of the work remaining at the studio after Hepworth’s death was given to the nation and placed in the care of the Tate Gallery. Check out more 
Our Saturday walk along Brighton Marina was a rich bed of colour, texture and reflection. The old fishing boats became a springboard for imaginary tales of mermaids and pirates for our little ones adventurous souls.
Sunday was a lovely group walk/bike/scoot from Saltdean to Rottingdean. After bracing the sea air, we settled on the beach at Rottingdean, by ‘