Hassell collaborates on interactive garden design for Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show
Don’t miss our diverse, interactive garden showcasing innovative horticulture research created to improve the liveability of our cityscapes — on display now at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, Australia until April 2.
A collaboration between floral and garden designers Super Bloom, Melbourne University horticulture researchers and Hassell, the ‘woody meadows and flowery swards’ garden covers 36 square metres and is a study in rethinking urban plantings.
“Too often, our city streets and spaces are oversimplified when it comes to planting,” says Principal Jon Hazelwood. “By working with external experts willing to experiment, there is an opportunity to push the potential for planting design in public spaces.”
“As designers of city spaces and streets, our new approach shows how resilient plantings can also be diverse and beautiful, which will hopefully inspire home gardeners too.”
Jon Hazelwood, Principal
The garden display illustrates findings from the Woody Meadow research project. Based at the University of Melbourne’s Burnley campus, the project develops more attractive, affordable and low-maintenance public plantings for our roadsides, railway sidings, verges, and parkland to make Australian cities more liveable.
The Woody Meadow project is a partnership involving the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Government, eight city councils, the University of Sheffield and several other organisations. And it’s already transforming cities across Australia with over 6000sq metres of plantings in Perth, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.
University of Melbourne Associate Professor Claire Farrell says the display garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS) is an invitation to reimagine what is possible in public landscapes, demonstrating how climate-appropriate plantings can be aesthetically rich and highly varied in species and plant forms.
“We use natural shrublands as templates for woody meadows that are easily maintained: hard pruning or coppicing of the woody plants promotes flowering and dense growth that excludes weeds and saves money.”
Claire Farrell, Associate Professor University of Melbourne
In addition to the MIFGS garden, Hassell is also leading the design of the Melbourne Arts Precinct transformation, which includes 18,000sq metres of new gardens.
Designed in collaboration with James Hitchmough, Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Ecology and Nigel Dunnett, Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture — both at the Univeristy of Sheffield — and floral and garden designers Superbloom, with research and trials by the University of Melbourne to ensure the gardens’ ongoing success, these new green spaces will provide an abundance of beautiful, resilient and biodiverse naturalistic planting for the city of Melbourne.
For further information visit: Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show - Immerse Your Senses.
