At a glance: How landscaping can beautify water management, alongside cutting-edge technology and an uncanny plant palette
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If you’ve ever wondered what UK gardens might look like in 25 to 50 years time, maybe look to Aquitaine in southwestern France, from where designer Baz Grainger has drawn inspiration for this future-proofed garden. “I wanted the garden to feel recognisable but a bit alien,” he says. Designed to be a functioning space, the garden is centred around a seating area which divides the garden into two parts: a naturalistic wild side; and a designed side with a water feature and horseshoe-shaped flagstone path.
This social area is positioned under a pergola that will be 3D printed on-site during the build, with bespoke oak troughs for water capture. These filter water to a gravelled flood zone at the front of the garden, where it soaks into a rainwater-harvesting system that will store the water until it’s needed. “I wasn’t coming from a place of full rainwater harvesting,” says Baz. “It was more about using landscaping to channel the water to where we want it to go, and that’s actually really simple through design.”
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