Inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere, as long as you don't just look but also see, as well as constantly maintaining an open mind that is receptive to new ideas even if it comes from the unlikeliest of places. And even better if you have a camera at hand to capture these images as you see them!On my laptop there is a folder called 'The Idea Bank' where I store mostly photos and images I have taken myself; of places and objects I have seen that I find inspirational for a certain look, or a good idea for a future project in our garden. There are also several images there that I have saved from various websites I have visited in the past that I consider to be inspiring or have great ideas that may be applicable to us.
I regard this folder as a personal reference file, a collection of images that I dip into every so often whenever I find myself in need of ideas and inspiration, or simply just to refresh our memory of notable things we have seen before. It is extremely useful especially when planning for new projects or designing and thinking about ways to be creative in the garden.
Not all of the images in 'The Idea Bank' are immediate things of beauty. Some are photos of places and objects that were taken to capture the overall essence of the subject matter, with the form and aesthetics fully appreciable in each individual photo. Whilst others are detailed shots, functional in purpose that are meant more to help in creating something similar which will hopefully lead to something good.There are numerous photos in that folder, almost a hundred but I never let it expand any more than a manageable size, by culling some of the older images as I gradually add some more, sometimes even trying to remove more than I have added at times. Even in a computer folder clutter is not a good idea, and unlike a real bank quantity is not always a good thing either. Quality over quantity, what you're banking on are ideas and not just the number of images.
In preparing this blog post I had to revisit these images again, which I found an enjoyable experience in its own right. Some of the photos have served their purpose already and have been referred to in previous projects (and may remain there for nostalgic reasons); some have become totally inapplicable and are candidates for culling; whilst others will remain there long term for possible use in the future.
The following images (only the ones I've taken myself) are just a few of the images in our Idea Bank, a sneak peak of what's inside there...
Exotic plants on a white background, looks familiar? We've pretty much decided on this combination until we saw this display in the Princess of Wales Conservatory at Kew Gardens which reinforced the idea. I do like the trellis on the wall and was an influence when putting up trellises on top of some of the fence panels. Instead of lush, green foliage plants we used glaucous leafed instead (on one raised bed at least).
Taken inside the tropical biome of the Eden Project, it is one of the inspirations when we were still constructing the jungle hut near the bottom of our garden. We played with the idea of using galvanised sheets and putting up a metal 'shipping' sign at the front of the hut. Galvanised sheets are widely used in the tropics for jungle huts and rural outbuildings, thus in their own right would look authentic if used as such here. However, we opted against using them in the end as its aesthetics are more likely to be misconstrued by others rather than appreciated. So out with the galvanised sheets, but the influence of the shipping sign remained but has been substituted by several vintage metal 'Coca Cola' signs instead.
A wooden raised bed/planter like this might look good on the top patio nearest to the house if we decide to give it a makeover.
Agave attenuata or any other succulent sat on the mouth of a big urn looks great! This photo was taken at Reid's Palace Hotel in Madeira. It's easy enough to replicate this at home by filling a large urn with polystyrene, leaving just enough space so the pot of agave will be concealed and only the foliage will be visible. You can then easily lift off the pot in the autumn for storage under glass before the winter chill.
I saw this metal pole pergola in one of the gardens at Madeira and thought it looked effective, sturdy, and easier to assemble than an all wooden pergola. However, unless you buy this as a kit (and kits tend to be expensive) then it has to be custom made which makes it also expensive and I have doubts about its longevity in a British climate. And will it be aesthetically pleasing or just look functional? It depends on the overall construction of course but I'll never find out. A good idea in Madeira but not so good in our own garden. 
I loved this feature, so simple yet so effective in creating a soothing, moving water sound in the garden and the planting was just right and looked natural. This sort of feature can be easily replicated by a simple set-up and you don't even need a big pool to achieve this. And you can customise it with your own planting! Maybe something we can replicate ourselves in the future.
I saw this potted display in Cambridge Botanical Gardens a few years ago and did something similar shortly after with my collection of little succulents in small pots. Much the same as above, I filled big pots to the rim with sand and placed small pots of succulents in groups on top of them so they were displayed on different levels. I only did this display for one year and haven't done it again since. Most of those succulents are either gone now or have grown and in big pots themselves.
This pathway looked good and is easy enough to replicate yourself, time consuming yes but potentially an inexpensive hard landscaping option.
A living wall that I absolutely adore and has a sense of permanency which most living walls now do not have. Ok, it's not a living wall as such but a stone walling that has deliberate random gaps where appropriate plants can be inserted, establish themselves and hopefully thrive. It looks natural, similar in principle to old stone walls where plants manage to find its way in between gaps and thrive there with little human intervention. Such a 'living wall' has limited choices of plants that can be used as there's no irrigation and very little organic matter will make its way in between those gap. But it becomes a very low maintenance living wall that looks great too. I don't think we have anywhere in our garden we can do this now, but who knows, maybe in the future. A long term investment in our 'The Idea Bank' but if you find this right in your garden now then I think it will look great.
So how do you finish off a tiled roofing? A close up shot was needed to give us an idea...
A chunky wooden bench, so simple yet so effective. And seems easy enough to do one yourself and is at home to any style of garden.
One of the newer additions to our 'The Idea Bank', a reclining urn with plants spilling out of it. Maybe one to add in our garden this year.
A climber doesn't only have to climb walls to look good. You can include obelisks and pillars within your borders and train choice climbers to cover them as part of your display. Instant height too! Or like the one in this photo you can put one in a pot for an instant tall display.
A charming water feature in one of the Cornish gardens we've visited before. Simple in principle, a plantless pool with reasonably clear water and something similar can even house a few goldfish as an extra interest to this water feature. I'm not too keen on the frog sitting on top but the rest of the stone water return looks great.So there you go, a little preview of what's inside our 'The Idea Bank'. Highly likely you have something similar already on your computer even if you call it something else, if you do then it would be good to hear about (or even better see them in a post on your own blog!). Inspiration really is everywhere and it's free, use it your own advantage and you'll reap lots of pretty rewards.
Mark :-)
