I have decided to volunteer every Thursday afternoon for a couple of hours at the Learning Resource Centre and Experimental Gardens based at the Headingley Campus of Leeds Met.[1]
An oasis in the campus it has been moulded by the lovely Jo, who keeps it looking beautiful and students on various projects over the years.
I have never gardened before - I tried to get some experience over the summer but most places (even for volunteer positions) only wanted people with previous knowledge of gardening. Luckily, Jo was very happy when I offered to be a "general dogsbody" in return for some experience! It is incredibly important for Landscape Architect's to have an understanding of gardening, plants and their environments - as paint is to artists, plants are to landscape architects (generally speaking).
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| The section BEFORE we cleared the nettles |
This week saw us clearing all the nettles in a patch in order to make sure students could see the Viburnum Opulus - or Guelder Rose. The roots of nettles aren't very deep so they were relatively easy to rip out of the ground. There was a lot to do...but I returned home very satisfied, rubbing my stinging wrists with doc leaves...
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| What a difference! AFTER we cleared the nettles (about an hour and a half's work) |
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| A quick study of the Guelder Rose |
[1] This wonderful place originally started out as a garden to the house on the site, it was then used in the 70s as a place for 'rural studies' - which was then (rightly so) included in the curriculum. For the past 20 or 30 years it has been a garden used by Landscape Architecture students at the university....and what a place it is!!!
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