On our second day of coursework, Mike Pennington (below center) worked with us through the design process, the critical issues we need to consider, the questions we might ask, the constraints we face, the realities of implementing a concept within out time frame, etc. Mike produced drawings reflecting the thinking associated with site characteristics (below left) and a first going at a possible arrangement of landscape elements (below right). A key theme through all this is that what our students are doing is a very realistic activity involving many typical steps in the design and implementation of an English garden. Along the way we are constantly asking Why is this done this or that way? How did this or that come about? We are begining to gain an appreciation for many things English as they relate to constructed landscapes.
After reviewing the design process, Mike told us to go at it! Susan (below left) and Charlie (below right), like all the others in the group, took to the task with great enthusiasm and spent the rest of the afternoon working on their ideas.
