Photos: Holton Lee – Students surveying the garden at Holton Lee. L-R Jo Derrick-West Moors,Chris Davies-Poole, Jacob Taylor-Bournemouth, Lisa Dyson-Milton Abbas. HoltonLee1 – Matthew Briars Environment Manager at Holton Lee with KM students.
GRASS roofs and water features could grace a garden at a protected Dorset beauty spot thanks to the imagination of design students at Kingston Maurward College.
Students on the Advanced Certificate in Garden Design have created more than 20 ideas revamping the public space at Holton Lee, and their innovative designs will now become reality.
The 350-acre natural habitat near Poole is a Site of Special Scientific Interest restricting the students to only local plants and materials with the added proviso the finished garden is totally accessible for disabled visitors.
“Their designs are absolutely fantastic considering the constraints they face,” said Matt Briars, environment manager at Holton Lee.
“We use golf buggies on site and one idea was to create a concave grass roof to hide these vehicles. Others include water features and frame-working the view to make the most of the fields and harbour beyond.
“Staff and visitors will now look at the designs and choose one, or we’ll use aspects from each.”
Holton Lee works to improve the quality of life for disabled people through the arts and creativity, the environment and personal growth and spirituality.
The new garden is part of its Barn accommodation for disabled visitors.
Pauline Jones, horticulture lecturer at the college, said: “Designing for real life scenarios and clients is an amazing experience for our students and I know they got a lot out of this task.”
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