Charleston Garden Festival | Jinny Blom and Laura Ford
What makes a Garden, a Talk by Jinny Blom
On Friday 19th July, I travelled down to Charleston farm house, with my Mum in tow, to see the Garden Festival that takes place there each Summer. Nestled in the Chalky East Sussex Downs, it was a great chance to explore the gardens in the July glory and to hear Jinny Blom in conversation with artist Laura Ford.
It was a beautiful, albeit very hot day, we wondered through the garden, exploring the different spaces within. Weaving our way under and around the towering holly hocks. Crammed with abundant flowers that did not shy away from colour, the garden reflected the vibrant bloomsbury group that brought the place it’s artistic reputation.
After a lunch in the courtyard cafe of focaccia followed by a delicate rose cake, we headed into the Barn to hear the talk. The outdoor area being swapped indoors due to the blazing sun, much to the relief of the audience.
Owning two Jinny Blom books and being interested in her romantic, historically aware and thoughtful approach to landscape design, I was keen to hear her talk about her work and process and settled in to listen.
I loved hearing of the parallels being drawn by both speakers of the interconnected nature of garden making and art making. Jinny talked about the quiet, introspective process of coming up with a garden. Spening time daydreaming about the landscape, the necessity of making hand drawn designs as well as being hands on in the garden itself all lead to creating a truly unique space and an artwork as a result.
Coming away from the talk I was most struck by Jinny’s dedication of making landscapes that are so considered that the result is a space that simply ‘fits’. Each layer is peeled back and examined, it’s history is understood and brought to the fore front of the design process. It is a seamless process that means the legacy of the design is that ‘no one would think to change it’. The landscape is as it should be and despite certain plants shifting, changing or growing, the structure of the garden and landscape will remain and stand the test of time.