Journal - Urquhart & Hunt — Landscape Design & Ecological Restoration

Journal

The wait is over to reveal something very special.

The wait is over to reveal something very special. Honoured to be part of the Roman Villa creatives.
Repost @thenewtinsomerset
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Time travel this summer and do as the Romans once did in Somerset, with our new archaeological and educational experience 🕰
Inspired by the unearthing of a settlement on the estate dating back to AD351, this expansive reimagining of a Romano-British villa sits alongside an innovative visitor centre, which rests carefully over the exposed foundations of the original villa.
At the end of your tour, don’t miss an authentic taste of Roman style street food, using flavours and ingredients common to the period and region 🍷
🏛Bookings now open, with pre-booking essential to visit
🏛 Open from Monday 6 June for hotel guests, Newt Members and member’s day guests only
🏛Summer opening hours 10am to 5pm (last entry at 3pm)
#TheNewtinSomerset #VillaVentorum

Looking through some of the imagery of our Chelsea

Looking through some of the imagery of our Chelsea garden. The garden was awarded a Gold medal & the prestigious Best in Show at the RHS CFS 2022. A blessing for Rewilding Britain, the garden opened up discussions about plant ecologies, habitat restoration, as well as water and soil cleaning and nourishment systems.
Some close ups to inspire.. 💛so many beautiful native plants throughout the garden.
..all now happily rehomed at rewilding charity for mental health @lindengate in 7 acres site London, with 7 ponds and wetland soil conditions 🌿
📷 @evanemeth 🙏
@rewildingb
@project.giving.back
@orcharddene
@lalandscapes
@waterartisans

Join our team! We are looking for an experienced

Join our team!
We are looking for an experienced Landscape Architect/Designer and a Graduate Landscape Architect/Designer to join our award-winning studio in Somerset. We have a number of fascinating schemes underway including residential, historic and public projects, all with an ecological aspect to them.
Excellent design ability, technical detail & plant knowledge is essential, as well as good communications, presentation and organisational skills. Minimum of three years relevant experience required for the senior post. Essential to be fluent in VectorWorks, Sketch-Up and Adobe suite as well as having a good hand drawing ability.
At the heart of our studio is a commitment to improving the environment for the human and non-human world. We have a tight and motivated team, all of whom care about making a positive difference. Whilst our studio is in Bruton we are happy for a degree of home working to take place along with flexible working day times. We invest in the CPD of our team and encourage all to continually learn about plants and ecology.
Salary dependent upon experience.
Deadline for applications: 1st July 2022
Write to us at studio@urquharthunt.com attaching your CV and portfolio of relevant work.
@societyofgardendesigners @landscapeinstitute @landscapeinstitutesouthwest @gardens_illustrated @houseandgardenuk @thelistbyhouseandgarden @project.giving.back @dezeen @dezeenjobs

On beaver landscapes and native plant ecologies -

On beaver landscapes and native plant ecologies - these mammals activate a landscape that supports all other river plants, insects, mammals, bird habitats and species needs.
Beavers are a key-stone in the arch holding up the entire river system. It is incredible we are still able to welcome them back in the Uk after 500yrs of extinction (Eurasian Beaver - castor fiber).
A beaver’s damming activity transforms a single straight sided stream into multiple tributaries with different speeds of water that form slow pooling habitats and faster running water.
Some create accelerated flows that wash silt off the gravels, termed ‘redds’, creating ideal spawning conditions for trout, salmon, salmonids; restocking our crashing fish stocks. Their eggs don’t incubate in silty waters.
Silty, slower pools provide multiple homes, breeding and feeding spaces for amphibians, fresh water fish, water and small birds, mammals - like water voles & otters; all of whom are struggling for survival and safe places to live.
The dams naturally clean and filter water, also crucially slowing down water as it moves through our lands to the sea.
Debris, stick piles and branches left from beaver activities - lodges, dams, storage piles - create incredible opportunities for fungi habitats, for decay and therefore soil and water nourishment. This has a direct effect in supporting the first stages of the food chain of the soils and oceans, -delicate plant families like orchids and mycorrhizae, and, rivers arriving rich with bio-available nutrients for plankton.
Some favourite moments of the Rewilding Britain Landscape, Chelsea flower show.
Honoured and thrilled to be awarded
Gold medal ✨ Best in Show 2022
📸 @davewattsphotography stunning imagery 🙏

At last we’re back home in beautiful Somerset, e

At last we’re back home in beautiful Somerset, enjoying the Jubilee weekend after one of the most amazing adventures we’ve had in all our years as a Landscape Design practise. It was our 1st time at a RHS Show & so to win Best in Show!! goes beyond our wildest dreams. We are especially happy for our charity @rewildingb & our sponsor @project.giving.back whose support was unwavering throughout. It was an incredible journey for everyone as we travelled across the south of England visiting beautiful landscapes, ancient quarries, timber yards, amazing nurseries & meeting dedicated conservationists and skilled craftspeople as we went.
We are proud of our show garden & felt honoured and moved by many people’s response to it. The Flower show this year (as always) was a celebration of people and nature with many of her processes. Many gardens showed the joy & playfulness that occurs when people have access to nature & it was a delight to be able to bring something of ours in this vein to the show.
We wanted to encourage discussion on re-introducing keystone species such as the beaver & all the benefits they bring: flood alleviation, habitat creation, water purification & much more. We are delighted & honoured to have been given the spotlight with which to foreground this. And, towards our goal of highlighting the important issues that our charity represents, the attention we have received has exceeded that which we could have ever imagined.
To thank everyone is an impossible task, but we will try, these mentions to people involved and friends we have made along the way on this wonderful journey.
@lalandscapes
@waterartisans
@orcharddene
@leafcreativeuk @deepdaletrees @wetlandplants
@hillside_conservation
@allgreengb
@ashwells2 @hearthworks
@westcountry_hedgelayer
@richard_brazier @rewildingdriver
@soundmattershq
@valstarbond @didelucas @rewburynob @breffni_mcgeough @jamesburgess1986 @s_e_lindell
@Lewynclegg @earnie1992
@rewildingb
Plus a huge thanks to all the amazing volunteers during the show 💙
Photography 📸 the amazing @jasoningram
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#rhschelseaflowershow2022 #bestinshowchelsea #rewilding #rewildingbritain #naturallandscapes

People’s choice award voting now live till tomor

People’s choice award voting now live till tomorrow 7pm, where you can choose the garden closest to your heart 🍃 link in bio
Photo by @jasoningram

Beyond over and above joyous Bear with us to sha

Beyond over and above joyous
Bear with us to share more news of today, we are savouring the moments!
Gold medal & best in show all in one go ✨ @rewildingb ❤️
@project.giving.back
@lalandscapes
@waterartisans
@leafcreativeuk

Cute & powerful in one beautiful being 🌿🧚🏿

We take our hats off to the incredibly skilled tea

We take our hats off to the incredibly skilled team of craftsmen and specialists who we’ve been working with on site 💫 Your passion and hard work is awe inspiring.
@lalandscapes
@jamesburgess1986
@rewburynob
@breffni_mcgeough
@natbloc
@waterartisans
@hillside_conservation
@project.giving.back
@rewildingb
@chelseaflowershow

Day 13 of our Chelsea garden build and we must be

Day 13 of our Chelsea garden build and we must be doing something right because a blackbird has started using the Beaver pool as a bath for the last few days…
Incredible team here
@lalandscapes
@waterartisans
@leafcreativeuk
@orcharddene
Roll on The flower show next week…

♥️🌿 @petrovnov @glow_worm_cottage . . .

♥️🌿
@petrovnov
@glow_worm_cottage
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@rewildingb
@chelseaflowershow
@project.giving.back

@westcountry_hedgelayer in preparation to bring hi

@westcountry_hedgelayer in preparation to bring his talent to London soon ⏰
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A lovely morning spent in the copse, with a couple of weeks to go until the flower show at Chelsea, I’ve been cutting binders from the hazel here..I’ll be using approximately 60 stakes & the same binders for the perimeter of the garden..
@project.giving.back
@glow_worm_cottage
@luluurquhart
#rhschelsea #hazelcoppice #copse #coppicecraft #billhook #ancientwoodland #hazelcraft #rusticstyle

Catch us on BBC Radio Devon live at the Tony Buckl

Catch us on BBC Radio Devon live at the Tony Buckland show today 12:20-12:40 💕 more about the show garden, beavers, Tango & life’s dance.
Our motto for this beautiful day today…Always keep dancing 💫
@bbcradiodevon

Repost of the amazing @soundmattershq preparation

Repost of the amazing @soundmattershq preparation of nature sounds for the @rewildingb garden at @the_rhs Chelsea Flower Show 💕
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We’ve been recording the sounds of beavers this week in order to recreate a 500 sqft beaver’s habitat designed by @urquhart_hunt for this year’s @chelseaflowershow. We were fortunate enough to capture several beavers on the River Otter and at Derek Gow’s consultancy. Looking forward to sharing the recordings with you soon and might even see you at the show... Massive thanks to @devonwildlifetrust 🦫🦫#beavers #wildlife #soundscape #nature #devon #installation #locationrecording #soundmatters #rewilding
@project.giving.back
@glow_worm_cottage
@luluurquhart

It’s all in the detail 💫 Beautiful team is g

It’s all in the detail 💫
Beautiful team is galvanising for Chelsea 22 build. What a crew! 🙏
It’s a massive undertaking & pulling together.
We are blessed to have such expert skills and enthusiasm, bringing this rich story of our land out in the sunny metropolis of London Town.
Appreciate hearing a few London accents too — love a London accent - and seeing the whole show site camaraderie as everyone in all parts of the show ground busys like beavers getting this show on the road.
@lalandscapes
@jamesburgess1986
@rewburynob
@breffni_mcgeough
@natbloc
@waterartisans
@hillside_conservation
@allgreengb
@deepdaletrees @jameshilliertrees @hortusloci
@project.giving.back
@rewildingb
@chelseaflowershow
@leafcreativeuk
@hillside_conservation

Hello London…. 💞
Home for the month ✨🙏💫
Gratitude
Thank you team, family and friends for holding us on our beautiful beaver garden mission 🦫🌿💦

Floating on a river of Thyme 🍃 Golden moment f

Floating on a river of Thyme 🍃
Golden moment from Puglia ✨ @giardinipistola

Two days of plant workshop at the nursery with Chr

Two days of plant workshop at the nursery with Chris and Toby Marchant and the mega U&H Chelsea planting team ❤️
Hugely helpful to get our heads into plant combinations, getting to know the each and every one of the pots that will come to London next week.
Thank you all so much ❤️
Chris&Toby Marchant
@leafcreativeuk
@project.giving.back
@luluurquhart
@glow_worm_cottage
@valstarbond
@didelucas
@hennytate
@petrovnov
Sarah Thomas

Warming up before the main event 🍀 @leafcreati

Warming up before the main event 🍀
@leafcreativeuk
@luluurquhart
@glow_worm_cottage

So many stories to share, feels like we are on the

So many stories to share, feels like we are on the adventure of a lifetime.
Last week the brilliant @portregisschool came with 50 children on a tour of beavers, to observe & find out what happens in nature when a keystone species appears. We loved sowing seeds in young curious minds 🤞🏼✨
Viva! Our children and our future ♥️ immensely exciting to be talking ecological restoration with the future crew
Generously hosted and guided by @42acresretreat, thank you!
@glow_worm_cottage
@luluurquhart
@42acresretreat
@project.giving.back

First year in for the bulbs @giardinipistola, many

First year in for the bulbs @giardinipistola, many of which we use and love in our UK climate but this time the bulb palette had to suit very specific conditions. Choosing for south italian heat with winter frost, strong winds and even snow was a new brief these bulbs needed to survive & thrive in 💜 look at them all singing & dancing 🕺🏿
📷 @giardinipistola
@glow_worm_cottage
@luluurquhart

What an honour! @planted_community at the stunning

What an honour! @planted_community at the stunning @ntstourhead panel conversations hosted by @oliverheathdesign and alongside @melissa.jolly .. such depth in the discussion and really seeing how Planted raises the bar in these important discussions relevant to us all. No dumbing down.. thinking of our future and weaving together all things earth, sustenance and connection 🙌🏽💫🦌🌿 a bountiful Beltane activity, with strong May energies abound.
It is still on today too, brilliant nature-connection market, talks and workshops. Curated by @annahaywardltd
#loved
@markshayler
@forest_of_selwood
@derekjgow
@vervefestival
@acre_and_holt
@organicflowerbulbs ☺️
@outofthevalley_ltd
@blackbeehoneycompany
@thesnowsheppard

Here is slavanika .. 🇺🇦 she’s named in hon

Here is slavanika .. 🇺🇦 she’s named in honour of a Ukrainian fairy tale protagonista .. an elephant girl .. who was unbelievably kind and had many many children.
@tarshafinley and @Paulmullholland and their trusty incredible crew have manifested a safe haven for Ukrainian family ola & kids and simultaneously for a new pair of beavers in a licensed 6 acres. Brava 🦫🇺🇦
celebrating a new wave of opening up our boundaries, mentally and physically, and welcoming strangers and honouring the exiled.. all in one breath, phew!
Check out this awesome tail 💓

It’s been an extraordinary day in Dorset More t

It’s been an extraordinary day in Dorset
More to follow here.. but we’re feeling incredibly emotional & happy and in awe of the hospitality & vision of @tarshafinney @paul.mulholland 🙏✨💫🦫
💚

Special evening yesterday..something profound in t

Special evening yesterday..something profound in the warm evening air, with the sun setting, as a family walked across their field to place the sweetchestnut location together. Felt like a ceremony with hearts & intentions set to bring goodness to the land. Proud of our good hearted clients 💕

Cuckoo flower .. milk maid .. lady’s smock .. 💗
Cardamine pratensis ..

Looking forward to Planted Country at Stourhead 30

Looking forward to Planted Country at Stourhead 30th April - 2nd May.
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An inspiring programme of talks and workshops hosted by @oliverheathdesign and @planted_community
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#soil #soul #society #reconnectingwithnature #plantedcountry #saveoursoil #earthmatters #regenerativefarming #designfornature #natural #habitat #nodig #sustainablegardening #wearewhatweeat #organicgardening #gardeningnaturally #organicbulbs #nopesticides #nochemicals #biodiversity

“Flowers every night Blossom in the sky; Peace i

“Flowers every night Blossom in the sky; Peace in the Infinite, At peace am I." - Rumi
#Repost @sharjil_siddique at Cambridge Mosque
#Ramadan #gardens #tulips #cambridge

That’s a wrap but what’s the caption? @glow_

That’s a wrap but what’s the caption?
@glow_worm_cottage
@luluurquhart