Local Materials
Last week at Cae Bodfach Hannah and I strengthened the circular dead hedge inside the herb garden using the left over willow. So simple yet so effective.
Using local materials or those which you have to hand makes for a far stronger and more sustainable design.
Yellow woad and golden willow 
Regenerative Material : The willows new growth this May
The willow was grown onsite, coppiced and used to build the dead hedge structure. You can’t get more local than that! Locally grown materials enhance the surrounding environment and can reduce and in some cases (like this one) eliminate the need for transportation.
Sense of Place
Using local materials and drawing inspiration from the within a site generates spaces with meaning and value as well as creating truly regenerative landscapes.
Designing or thinking in this way results in purposeful places that have many benefits, as they meet the needs for humans, wild life and the environment.
It was great to see the slate signs the volunteers from Mencap made for the garden in place and framed so beautifully by their namesakes!
By reusing these old welsh roof slates for the herb garden signs helps create a sense of place as Wales is renowned world wide for its slate, this in turn helps strengthen local identity too. And by giving a second life to these slates we are able to reduce waste. The signs will endure the elements and hopefully will last many years to come.
A big ‘Diolch yn Fawr Iawn!’ to Iain Guthrie, who grew up surrounded by slate in Llangynog, for cutting and shaping some more slate signs for the herb garden.
Slate signs: Simple low tech solutions