Discovery
This garden, from Libra School, has been inspired by the Tiverton canal. The garden has been designed by students with support from their horticulture teachers, and is their interpretation of an English canal and lock keeper’s cottage garden. This is the culmination of a school project looking at transport and particularly at Britain’s waterways.
The garden includes a lock and a replica canal boat, which has been painted by students under the guidance of a canal folk art painter. The planting scheme reflects the diverse variety of plant habitats that can be found along a stretch of English waterway, and includes wildflower and grass banks and water and marginal plants. The key structural tree is a weeping willow, with a selection of other native and ornamental trees used throughout the design.
In contrast to this, the lock keeper’s garden includes a traditional vegetable plot, with vegetables grown by the students, and English cottage garden planting to complement the thatched cottage.