Whilst on our Mallorcan practice field trip three of us made the short journey from Palma towards Sóller to find the gardens of Alfabia.

Located at the foot of the Tramuntana mountains the house, gardens and orchard form a complex that dates back to the Arab era of Mallorca. Alfabia was the residence of the Moorish governor of the Balearic Islands and although the house has been much altered over the centuries, the gardens retain strong Moorish characteristics.

Today they are in mild disrepair, though some restoration is taking place, and horticultural interest is limited, but they have a powerfully romantic atmosphere: raised pergola walks with arching jets of water to catch the unwary visitor; rills and pools (though much of the water was not running at the time of our visit) shaded by palms; wonderfully serpentine ancient wisteria; steps and balconies, sculpture and fountains; and the whole garden commands orchards of citrus and olive. The sheep that graze these orchards, with their tinkling bells, created the perfect setting for our lunch of local bread and cheese.

Every winter we team up with Barcham Trees and head south to Italy. Our aim: to select beautiful specimen trees and shrubs, as well as fine quality pleached and topiary sets for practice projects.

The Pistoia region of Tuscany contains over 1000 nurseries, with some growers specialising in just a single plant species and form.  Forays around the valley lead to a wonderful selection of field and containerised stock, much of which is specially clipped or prepared and tailored to fit our wide range of individually designed landscapes.

Recent finds have included majestic Holm Oak cones, elegant Blue Cedar, dazzling Parrotia ‘Vanessa’ and the finest clipped Yew spirals.

Holm Oak

Blue Cedar

Parrotia 'Vanessa'

Yew Spiral

This year’s practice field trip took us all to Palma, Mallorca and its hinterland to study the architecture, cityscape, gardens and natural landscape.

Palma, with its rich historic and modern design detail, proved a fertile territory for our usual challenges to staff to sketch and photograph ‘the spirit of the place’.

Mike Ibbotson, Palacio de Almudaina, Palma

Hal Moggridge, Port Soller, Palma

And the winner of our photography competition was Sue Goodman, Es Baluard Museu, Palma

Weather conditions ranged from bright sun and blue skies to a torrential thunderstorm. The early morning mists brought out the islands magic – a landscape whose blend of maritime and urban beauty, fertile plains, dramatic mountain and seacliff scenery seduced us all.

Memorable landscapes included views to the Cathedral of Santa Maria across the Port of Palma and from Castle Bellver above, the Soller Valley, and the coastline from Deia and Port Soller to the Sa Calobra Ravine.

The Soller Valley, Palma

Palma Port

Alderbrook Park is an important country estate located in the Metropolitan Green Belt and the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). This wonderful ancient landscape was first enriched by architect Norman Shaw in the 1880s and then by the garden design of Percy S Cane in 1938.

The imposing Norman Shaw mansion

At the heart of Alderbrook Park was an imposing mansion. It was the estate’s principal raison d’être and was the central focus, both within the park and from longer landscape views. Tragically the house was demolished in 1970 and replaced by an inappropriately small house, completely out of scale with its parkland setting and unfitting with the historic landscape and its attendant original buildings.

The current house

Model of the new house by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects

In 2009 Colvin & Moggridge were appointed as the landscape design specialists to work alongside architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, as well as a number of other carefully chosen experts. This design-team worked together on a proposal to replace the current house with one that would return the estate to its former glory.

Masterplan for restoration and improvement of the 1930s designed formal gardens around the house

This would involve, not only rebuilding the mansion house, but also restoring and improving the landscaped gardens around the new house to, once again, create a coherent and dramatic new setting. The new landscaping will also incorporate other parts of the original estate, now fallen into dilapidation – the walled kitchen gardens and glasshouses, for example.

Despite the Planning Officer’s recommendation to refuse the application, Councillors unanimously voted to grant consent for the new house and garden development. Success was in part due to two years of patient design development and attentive consultation with interested parties, but mainly attributable to innovative design, the use of ground-breaking techniques and the exceptionally high standards of the design team. This success reflects the talents of all involved in the project and is a great example of the kind of collaborative co-creation that we enjoy so much as a practice.

Norman Shaw’s original house was in its day “modern” and so the new house will be a modern idiom of today. Sustainability forms the heart of the design proposals for the new house and landscape. So strong are the credentials of the project that an education centre is planned, which will give local school children a rare opportunity to experience “sustainability” for themselves.

The granting of Planning Permission secures significant investment in the estate and safeguards this historic parkland for future generations.

Great landscape design includes an appreciation and understanding of landscape as a setting for art. At its best, such design allows art and nature to work together: they seamlessly fuse, each perfectly complimenting the other. The placement of outdoor sculpture gives meaning to frameworks, axes and sightlines. It creates focal points, or punctuates – giving pause and emphasis to other elements in the landscape.

Many of our clients hold art in situ in existing landscapes, settings that we have improved to benefit the individual pieces or composite works, but outdoor sculpture is frequently sought by clients who wish to choose and place new pieces of art and garden ornament.

Naturally we follow the auction sales and commercial collections held by long-established experts such as Summers Place/Sotheby’s and Architectural Heritage, but we also like to keep up to date with new works by contemporary artists.

Noteworthy finds this summer have ranged from the exquisitely carved sculptures in Italian and Portuguese marbles, and Iranian onyx exhibited by Paul Vanstone at Chelsea in May…

…to the multitude of exciting works viewed during the practice visit to Fresh Air 2011 at Quenington in Gloucestershire. This year Fresh Air showcased outdoor sculpture by over 100 artists working in a myriad of materials, from metal to cloth.

We’ll be posting images of our favourite outdoor sculptures as we find them. Sign up to receive our latest news.