As part of the Soil Culture Residency, Landscape Architect, Simon Brown, and I were invited by the CCANW (The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World) to work alongside Bristol Arts Council and Dolphin School to create a garden on the roof of the Dolphin Primary School.
We worked closely with the students and teachers to create a garden that worked with their needs. We made an edible garden that could be used to explore soil sciences, food growing, water cycles, ecosystems, closed loop systems and much more. We created a large table and inbuilt seating for shared activities, a water feature, insect hotels and spaces for the children to put artworks. We built a large pergola to provide shade and homes for birds and insects.
We carefully planted the garden using a mix of perennial and annual planting, trees and climbers, running workshops with the children and working with the teachers to allow for maintenance pressures.
Under a very tight budget we created a simple but vibrant garden that will hopefully become a space for engaged conversation and activities with nature, inspiring care for the natural world.
