Barhi Garden - Design
A Nautilus shell cutaway to show compartments
The garden has been designed with a number of requirements in mind
- We wanted lots of space for planting
- The garden had to be shared with our Welsh Springers
- There had to be flowing water
- I wanted a pleasing view from my office window
- We needed some privacy from the nearby houses
- Frequent use of our barbeque, both personal and for entertaining
- Different "rooms" and moods
To tie the whole thing together, we decided that there would be a theme running through it. This theme was to be a Nautilus shell. The shell of the chambered nautilus is a symbol of beauty and proportional perfection. It is a logarithmic spiral similar to other spirals such as the Golden Mean or phi spiral, but with slightly different proportions.
The first obvious decision was that the grass should go. We live on a clay soil, for the majority of the winter, the grass was sodden, leaving us trapped on the paving by the house. Taking hard paving to all parts of the garden allowed us year round access. By creating paths between the different areas, we had plenty of space left for plants.
This decision also provided depth in a garden that is much wider than it is deep. The paths provided a journey around the garden, but also provided choices to avoid boredom.