Design Intention:

The initial inspiration for this garden design came from seeing rays of sunshine streaking through some heavy winter clouds.  I began to play with various sunburst designs and liked the fact that the sun’s rays acted as a direct path to its core.  A sunburst represents power, energy, and life.  Often the sun’s centre is represented by a human face, which symbolizes enlightenment, knowledge, and wisdom.  The design of this garden needed to be clear and focussed and the structure of the sunburst correlates well with these manifestation themes.

The garden provides two physical journeys that lead from the short edge of the garden towards the Manifestation Terrace – a destination that represents the place where one has accomplished their manifestation goals and where the “practice” of manifestation comes to completion.

The direct route to the Manifestation Terrace is clear and focussed, and leads the participant past single species planting beds.  These single species come together to form a cohesive whole in the planting beds I’ve referred to as the Garden of Abundance.  All the pieces of the manifestation journey join together to result in an area of fulfilment and completion.

Structures, Key Features, & Hard Materials

The key features of the Manifestation Garden include:

-            Magnolia ‘Elizabeth’ – mature magnolia tree with butter lemon yellow flowers.  Magnolia symbolises perseverance and determination, and yellow alludes to hope, happiness, and warmth.  I chose it as a feature tree for the garden and as the center piece of the Garden of Abundance where it sits adjacent to the Manifestation Terrace.

-            Manifestation Terrace – the Manifestation Terrace is paved with sustainable limestone crazy paving and is located in the Garden of Abundance.  The Manifestation Terrace is the final destination in the garden and represents a place of fulfilment in the manifestation journey.  A limestone bench is located under the canopy of the Magnolia Tree and provides a place of rest where one can sit and enjoy the fact that they have achieved their goals.

-            Garden of Abundance – the Garden of Abundance is the planting area that wraps around the Manifestation Terrace.  It is the sum of all the parts (the single species planted beds) that one sees throughout the garden as a journey is made either physically or visually towards the lush garden.

-            Reflection Pool – the reflection pool is filled with still dark water.  Once can cross over the Reflection Pool by a set of three stepping stones.  These stepping stones represent balance and progression towards achieving one’s goals.  The still water of the pool provides a reflective surface symbolising self reflection – whether that be to assess what goals to focus on or to reflect upon what one has achieved on their manifestation journey.

-            Rills – the narrow shallow rills of the Manifestation Garden are aligned with the rays that eminate from the Manifestation Terrace and Garden of Abundance.  The water in these rills flows from the border of the show garden towards the destination – an area of fulfilment and abundance where manifestation has been realised.  The moving water denotes action and also acts as a visual guide towards the destination.

-            Mirrored Spheres – antiqued mirrored spheres are dotted along the main path of the garden that leads to the Manifestation Terrace.  The spheres tie into manifestation themes of self reflection, focus, and clarity.

Hard Materials:

Stone

Limestone was chosen as a key hard material because of its innate warmth and versatility.  I wanted this design to have clarity and focus (key steps in the manifestation practice) so using a single type of stone helps ensure that this comes across visually in the design.

-            Recycled limestone gravel – I chose to use gravel in this design to ensure good drainage, and can be made even more environmentally friendly by using recycled building stone.

-            Crazy paving – this hard material was selected because it symbolises how many parts coming together to form a larger whole.  This is also mirrored in the single species planting beds which come together in the Garden of Abundance as mixed beds. 

-            Limited limestone paving – this format is used sparingly for edges and steps.