Designing with Randomness: A Masterclass in Planting Design with James Hitchmough

It’s a wrap.

Now you can catch our hottest and extremely requested discuss of 2024 on Vimeo.

This can be a high-level introduction to the modern of planting design with James Hitchmough, Professor Emeritus of College of Sheffield, a genius innovator and iconoclast in horticultural ecology.

This 90-minute plus session on Designing with Randomness greater than lives as much as the masterclass title.  A gifted communicator, James rolls out a crystal clear framework for easy methods to plan, create and handle spectacular nature-like plantings for optimum wow issue and ecological worth.

Working with a mix of sowing particular seed mixes and planting, he has cultivated the power to attain gorgeous and dependable outcomes merely not attainable with one methodology alone.

In fact, the satan is the small print – significantly in how he selects his plant palettes and calibrates the customized seed mixes. It’s additionally about how the positioning is ready and the way the plantings are managed over time. Fortunately, he covers all of that and extra – most significantly, James offers us all the information we have to begin doing it ourselves, with clear directions relevant to just about any given context.

The presentation is adopted up by a vigorous Q&A the place I reasonable questions from the digital viewers. Once more, his brilliance was on full show and unimaginable to expertise in actual time.

Let it’s mentioned. That is our should profitable discuss ever. Over 500 individuals registered from all around the world to stream into the occasion. And the phrase of mouth opinions have been large. You possibly can view it on demand on Vimeo for the unique registration price.

A masterclass in ‘Sowing Magnificence’

The main focus right here is on Managing Density and Layering in Nature-like Plantings the place James shares key ideas for fulfillment to create wildly lovely herbaceous plant communities to supercharge biodiversity.

Right here is his personal description of the presentation:

Random repeating patterns are quintessential to most nature-like planting, whether or not it’s herbaceous or woody, meadows or woodland. Additionally secret is layering, however if you put these collectively the following complexity will be troublesome to conceptualise and doc in typical planting plans.

This discuss addresses these points each when it comes to elementary ideas of easy methods to organize crops in house, and what are the ecological in addition to aesthetic guidelines that govern this. A variety of my design initiatives are used as case research to reveal how to do that in follow with herbaceous plant communities, with each planting and seeding.

Horticultural Ecologist, provocateur & innovator

James Hitchmough has been on one thing of a roll currently.

He was just lately honoured with the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Council of the Society of Backyard Designers (SGD) within the UK for his excellent contribution to the panorama and backyard design career.

Now formally retired from college life, the fact is he has kicked into a good increased gear with a slew of worldwide collaborations whereas on the identical time endeavor the creation of a brand new backyard, meadows and wooden pasture at his household dwelling in rural South Somerset

The Society put collectively this marvellous profile, which is basically price watching to get a way of the person and his work.

Official bio (from the person himself)

James accomplished a BSC (Hons.) in Environmental Horticulture within the Faculty of Organic Sciences, College of Tub in 1979, and a PhD in Database Design for Plant Choice in 1984. He labored as a Lecturer/Senior Lecture at Burnley Faculty, College of Melbourne, Australia from 1983-93. James commenced as Reader within the Division of Panorama, College of Sheffield in 1995, was appointed Professor in Horticultural Ecology in 2004, and Head of Division from 2014-18. He retired in September 2022.

In parallel together with his tutorial profession, James has all the time labored as a guide on panorama initiatives world wide, typically utilizing these to translate his analysis into follow and coverage. He was one of many two lead planting designers on the London Olympic Park from 2007-14, following the publication of “The Dynamic Panorama” a seminal textual content on the appliance of nature-like planting to the city realm.

Since 2010 he has targeted on initiatives in China, typically in collaboration with Chinese language Authorities businesses to advance the usage of native native species in massive scale nature-like design initiatives, involving greater than 50 visits and expeditions. Publish his retirement (probably not a retirement in any respect) James continues to work on design initiatives, at present within the UK, China, Australia, Spain and Oman.

He continues to be in demand as a speaker world wide, which makes it much more of a honour to supply this masterclass now obtainable on Vimeo.

Completely to not be missed.

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Characteristic picture: Tom Stuart-Smith’s Barn Backyard, Pictures © Andrea Jones/courtesy TST / with permission from Timber Press