Owen Harries Landscape Blog

 I sketched a 'mirror' bridge which is near Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. I found this bridge interesting as beacuse fo the mirror effect, the view changes as you walk along it.

 Below are two of my favourite visualisation sketches for Barnwood Park and Arboretum which I produced for a design gallery/presentation this week. I believe although these are definitely unrefined (as many sketches should be!), they portray the design ideas and views which I wanted them to.

 I found Lamium album very interesting when I found some on a walk over the weekend. I had never seen 'nettles' with white flowers before. Although its foliage looks very similar, it is an entirely different genus altogether, and doesn't sting! Latin Name: Lamium album Common Name: White deadnettle Herbaceous Perennial Soil:  Not fussy about soil. Height:  0.15-1m.  Spread:  0.15-1m. Aspect:  Full sun/Partial shade, not south facing. Seasonality: Green foliage, white flowers in every season other than winter. Hardiness Zone:  H7 - Very hardy. Pests/Diseases: Largely pest and disease free. Landscape Uses: Wildlife-friendly planting plans, wildflower meadows. Maintenance:  No maintenance required. Identification:  Looks like typical 'stinging nettles' (Urtica dioica), with white flowers at the nodes. Dies back in winter. Notable Characteristics:  White flowers growing around the stems from leaf nodes. Great for pollinators and wildlife. So...

 This week, the class was given an unrendered plan to render using bucket filling and layer masks on photoshop. This was a great refresher of digital rendering skills. Below is the render I completed. I bucket-filled most of it, and used some layer masks to be able to change opacity and hierarchy of layers to get the desired effects with the coloured canopies, and the tree canopies. If I was to render one of my own designs, I would create my own textures for the planting beds and hedges, which I didn't give myself time to in this exercise.

 In an attempt to continue expanding my plant knowledge. I have decided to create more post outlining different plants, and their characteristics and preferred conditions. Starting with Ginkgo biloba. Latin Name: Ginkgo biloba Deciduous Soil: Well draining, not fussy about pH. Height: 15-25m in 20-50 years.  Spread: 4-8m Aspect: Full sun. Autumn Colour: Bright yellow. (Pictured below)  Hardiness Zone: H6 (Hardy in UK and Northern Europe). Pests/Diseases: Not largely susceptible to any pests or diseases, rarely affected by honey fungus. Maintenance: Little to no pruning or regular maintenance required. Pollution Tolerant? Yes. Identification:  Fan-like, often lobed leaves (green in spring + summer, bright yellow in autumn). Rough bark. Conical when younger, form becoming more variable when older. Notable Characteristics: Usually dioecious, meaning seperate male and female plants, however some older specimens can bear both male and female flowers. Female plant...

 Below is an example of the use of the crystalise filter on Adobe Photoshop, this was a picture out of the front door of my flat block, I adjusted the block sizes to be bigger than they were originally as I liked being able to see more individual, different colours.