Vialii Review of 2016

It’s getting to that time of year. With Christmas on our doorstep, 2016 stretches back behind us, packed full of gorgeous gardens, perfect products and funny Fringe shows! Here is the Vialii review of 2016 and all our best bits…

Website of the Year

Well it has to be our own new website doesn’t it?! It took a while for it to come to fruition but we think it was worth the wait. Pride of place if our new portfolio section which showcases the many gardens we have designed and built over the years with lots more photos to see. We have brought our well-loved blog into the cosy confines of the website too as well as making the whole website and blog more user friendly and packed full of lovely images of gardens. We hope you love it as much as we do.

Website of the Year

Garden Product of the Year

Our vote goes to Bogs wellies. Mrs Vialii got a pair of these and they are the warmest, cosiest, funkiest wellies we have seen. Perfect for gardening, walking the dog or just generally getting outdoors.

Green Product of the Year

We love the Wind Tree which has just arrived in the UK. As prices drop we hope to see more of these used in urban areas to help power lighting. We would love to include one in a community garden we are planning if we can…

Fun Design of the Year

We have had so much fun working with the Dunblane Centre, designing their outdoor space. We will start building it early 2017 and it will include a Seasonally Enchanted Path, Mini Allotment, Yoga Shack, Sensory Garden and much more. From flip flop walls to willow contemplation domes, this place will definitely be worth a visit!

Fun Design of the Year

Garden Feature of the Year

We are so lucky to be able to commission lots of wonderful features to go into the gardens we design. This year we have seen raised ponds, water features, bespoke seating, dry stone seats and much more. It’s really hard to choose a favourite but we do really love “Orbital” by Steve Wood for a garden we designed in Bridge of Allan.

Garden Feature of the Year

Plant of the Year

Wow, how do we pick?! OK, if we must, then this year we will go for pennisetum. A wonderful grass which gives wonderful texture to the garden. How can you resist touching these wonderful fluffy plumes of pennisetum “Summer Samba”?!

Plant of the Year

Quirkiest Garden Brief of the Year

We are always kept on our toes by our clients and every garden is unique. Some are more unique than others and this one in Dollar was a first for us as the clients asked us to include a golf tee in the design!

Quirkiest Garden Brief of the Year

Show Garden of the Year

This year Jo Thompson’s Chelsea Barrack’s Garden won our hearts. What a beautiful place to relax. Perfect!

We hope you have all had as great a 2016 as us and we wish you the very best for 2017.

All at Vialii

Get To The (Focal) Point – Part 2

In our recent blog on garden focal points we told you why they are such an important feature in the gardens we design. Here are a few more examples of some of the focal points we have used in our gardens…

Oil Lantern

This oil lantern is made from corten steel which is designed to give this beautiful rusted finish. It is wonderful focal point in this garden, guiding you round the path up to the seating area in the top corner.

An oil lantern made from rusted metal is softened by planting

Classical statue

This garden has a formal layout of raised beds and lends itself to having a focal point down the central aisle. A classical white statue looks great against the clipped hedge.

A formal layout is complemented with this classical statue focal point

Dry-stone seat

This wonderful seat is a lovely feature in this city centre garden. Hand crafted from stone without the need for any mortar it is a true work of art and a lovely focal point in the garden.

A dry-stane seat creates a wonderful focal points as well as a place to rest on your journey round the garden

Garden pod

There is no missing the main focal point in this garden – the garden “pod”. The bespoke pod was crafted from timber and has a living roof. Great to look at as well as a place to shelter from the Scottish weather!

The garden “pod” is a strong feature of this garden

Feature tree

This wonderful old apple tree was the only thing to be saved from the old garden that we transformed here. It had grown a bit wild but with a careful “hair-cut” it was restored to its true glory and became a wonderful feature in the new patio.

The gnarly old apple tree was sculpted and made the focal point within the new patio in this garden

Water feature

Water features can be a wonderful addition to the garden, providing a wonderful focal point to look and listen to (and feel if you are a child having lots of fun in the garden!) This lovely water feature sits in a bespoke vintage brick patio.

A beautiful water feature set into a patio creates a wonderful focal point at the end of the curving path

Garden Globe & Canal

The “canal” is a lovely feature in this garden, providing a contemporary pond for adults and wildlife to enjoy. It leads on to the metal globe focal point which leads your eye up and to the stunning view beyond.

Here, the water feature and metal globe draw the eye up to the beautiful views beyond

If you are would like some focal points introduced into your garden please get in touch to discuss what would work well in your space and to your budget.

Thank you for reading.

All at Vialii

Get To The (Focal) Point – Part 1

One of the many tricks a garden designer has up their sleeve is the use of garden focal points. Focal points can:

• create a journey around the garden, literally leading you down the garden path!
• draw your eye to a certain part of the garden or up and on to the landscape beyond
• divert your eye from something in the garden or nearby
• add interest to borders or other areas of the garden
• create a mood in the garden (i.e. if you are trying to create a Renaissance garden then introducing some classical sculpture would be appropriate

A water feature is a great focal point

What is a focal point?

So what constitutes a focal point? Well pretty much anything! It’s a feature which draws the eye and could be anything from feature pots to sculptures, water features to arbours, birdbaths to feature trees. Anything goes. Just think about the location, the shape, the size and the journey to get there. Here are a few of the features we have used in some of the gardens we have designed or ones we have introduced into our own:

Feature gate

This Japanese inspired gate was designed especially for our clients and sets the mood for the garden beyond.

A Japanese-style bespoke gate creates a mood and the bespoke sculpture at the end of the path provides a focal point and encourages the journey into the garden

Feature plants

Choosing plants and locating them carefully can make them focal points in a garden. Here we used standard photinias to create an entrance to the new patio.

Standard photinias frame the entrance to the patio and form a focal point at the end of the path

Feature tree and stone

In this garden we used a feature tree to create height and add interest. A stone which was unearthed during excavations was kept in the garden and used as a free focal point!

Here, both the feature tree, Euonymus europaeus, and the unearthed standing stone are focal points in the garden

Arbour

Here we created an arbour and bespoke bench to provide clients with a lovely spot to sit in the shade on a sunny day.

A bespoke arbour can be a lovely central feature of a garden]

Themed focal points

In this Japanese garden we used traditional Japanese focal points including a lantern, water feature and koi bridge.

A Japanese lantern, water feature and koi bridge set the mood in this garden

Sculpture

We found this rusty rose made from corten steel in a local shop and we think it makes a wonderful focal point in the border, popping up between the herbaceous perennials.

Herbaceous planting will envelop this rusty rose so that it pops out of the border

Willow balls

These hand-made willow balls make a wonderful garden focal point. They can have lights installed inside them too to make a wonderful effect in the evening.

A willow ball with lighting set inside creates a wonderful focal point at night time

If you would like some advice on focal points in your garden, please get in touch.

To see more focal point ideas click here.

Thank you for reading.

All at Vialii