Writtle University College postgraduate student Eunjung Jun’s garden design for the Salvation Army’s Hadleigh Training Centre near Southend has been shortlisted for a Society of Garden Designers (SGD) Student Award. There are nine other shortlisted entries, with results announced in February 2018.
Eunhung’s Life Cycle Garden features naturalistic and wildlife-friendly planting, which changes with the seasons, offering a colour-changing view throughout the year along with new seasonal opportunities for teaching horticultural practices to trainees. As well as showcasing trainees’ work, the garden would provide public spaces for socialising, meeting, and connecting with nature. Eunjung suggests it could also be a space for community seasonal events, such as a summer film festival or decorating Christmas trees.
The design features cutting and vegetable gardens, and a wildlife pond area with planting that changes colour throughout the year. The design of the entrance is characterised by a path that bisects the garden, in the shape of a tree. The paths are wide, so that wheelchair users can move easily along them. Sensitive to the ecology of the surrounding landscape, it is topped off with an overhead walkway, giving people access to the tree canopy and dramatic views of the historic 13th Century Hadleigh Castle and the wider Thames Estuary.
Eunjung completed a conversion course in Garden Design at Writtle University College last year, and is now studying for an MA in Garden Design. She said: “I am absolutely delighted to be shortlisted for this award. My garden design could give tutors at the centre the opportunity to plan their teaching around the seasons, from taking cuttings to harvesting vegetables, from flower arranging to cooking with the fruits from the native hedgerows.”
Eunjung completed the project under the guidance of garden design lecturer Steve Terry. He said: “I am thrilled for Eunjung, who has taken quite a difficult brief and created a design that works on many levels incorporating education, ecology, horticultural opportunities and revealing the work of the Salvation Army to the wider public.
“The design is sophisticated and successful in bringing all these elements together. I wish Eunjung the best of luck with her nomination; it is well deserved.”
More information about the awards here.
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