Dark Matter
Gold and Best Fresh Garden

Now here’s a garden with a sense of drama. And ambition: I’m not sure anyone’s ever tried to explain the science behind dark matter in outer space through the medium of plants and rusted iron sculpture before. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure this attempt quite managed it (I’m still as befuddled as I ever was on the subject) but it had a lot of fun trying.

The steel rods were bent two ways at once by a chair manufacturing firm (the only ones they could find with the necessary equipment to do it) to depict the bending of light around dark matter – the only evidence we have that dark matter exists (you’ll have to excuse me if this doesn’t make sense – I’m reaching my own outer limits of knowledge here).

The garden is full of adventurous, dramatic planting combinations and huge energy and movement: ever-shifting grasses mean this garden is never still. I loved acid-yellow Hakonechloa macra ‘Aurola’ partnered with jet-black Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, and the kidney shaped green leaves of Asarum europaeum picked up in overhanging leaves of smouldering purple Ligularia dentata ‘Othello’ – same shape, but contrasting colour and size, and a clever design detail to steal for your own garden.