Eyes Abroad: GaLaBau takes a bow and Walter Hood rewarded
It’s the start of the week so we have another five stories from across the globe to bring to your weary eyes.
It’s a glance further afield than the currently rather sunny British shores, and a glimpse into the wider world of landscaping and the stories rather less local.
We start off on an optimistic note however, with exceeded expectations and a look to the future.
GaLaBau takes a huge bow
As we did last week, we once again find ourselves casting our eyes over to Bavaria where the 25th anniversary edition of the GaLaBau exhibition has finished.
Safe to say it made a mark, with some 66,000 people venturing into the Exhibition Centre in Nuremberg across the four days.
There were a wide range of talks on how to meet the current challenges within landscaping, guided tours and outdoor exhibition areas.
Stefan Dittrich, director of GaLaBau, says: “The exhibition has exceeded visitors’ expectations. In these uncertain times, GaLaBau offers a reliable port of call for industry stakeholders.
“It’s where they find solutions to their day-to-day challenges and answers to their burning questions – whether about the digitisation of their businesses or how to position themselves for a climate-friendly future.”
It should whet your appetite for exhibition season with FutureScape now less than a month away.
For our next story however, we venture further afield to the Australian shores.
Georgiadis to lead special show
Costa Georgiadis, the host of ABC’s Gardening Australia, is set to lead a special event at Tahbilk Winery’s Peppercorn Paddock near Nagambie.
It will offer green thumbs a chance to pick up practical tips for nurturing flourishing backyards in the face of changing climate conditions.
The day’s program promises a rich blend of experiences, including insights from Taungurung elder Uncle Shane Monk, a morning tea inspired by native ingredients, and an eco-cruise tour of Tahbilk’s wetlands.
Costa shared his excitement about spotlighting gardeners’ vital role in safeguarding the environment.
“Gardeners are both stewards and guardians of our environment and can make a real difference in the fight against climate change,” says Georgiadis.
“There is no doubt that climate change is real and can have a significant impact on backyard habitats.
“There are so many ways we can build back better and connect our families and community to nature.”
And now we go over to a journalist who has found themselves in the United States, or if you’ll forgive me, our Wyoming reporter.
Master gardeners to descend on Wyoming
Anyway, the University of Wyoming will host its biannual Master Gardener’s Conference from 4-6 October at Eastern Wyoming College.
While the conference is geared toward master gardener volunteers, anyone interested in gardening is encouraged to attend.
“My hope is that master gardeners will get advanced training, and the general public that attends will get introduced to master gardeners and maybe consider becoming master gardeners themselves,” says Donna Hoffman, state master gardener program coordinator.
Throughout the weekend, participants will attend presentations from educators and other gardening experts, while topics will include plants adapted to the Rocky Mountain region, pruning and plant pests.
For our next story we stay in the United States, albeit by travelling a great deal further east, as it’s a landmark moment for one landscape designer who celebrated a prestigious award this week.
Walter Hood secures Vincent Scully Prize
Hood, the landscape designer whose career is actually longer than the award itself, has won the 26th Vincent Scully Prize.
He received it in recognition of his work designing sustainable landscapes which enhance urban communities and empower marginalized groups.
He first set up his eponymous studio back in 1992 and this is far from the only award he has received during his distinguished career.
The best way to sum up his studio’s work, is via its website, which is wonderfully eloquent when it says: “We strengthen endemic patterns and practices – those ecological and cultural, contemporary and historic, and those that remain unseen or unrecognized.
“Urban spaces and their objects act as public sculpture, creating new apertures through which to see the emergent beauty, strangeness, and idiosyncrasies around us.”
We thoroughly recommend looking through his works and seeing exactly what drew the Vincent Scully Prize to him.
Back to Australia, as we cheat a little bit. See, this story first came upon our eyes through Wakehurst Place, a botanical garden based in Ardingly, the UK where this writer happened to grow up.
Yet they were celebrating a wonderful anniversary of a success for biodiversity that was considerably more distant.
Wollemi pines celebrate 30 years from the brink
It was 30 years ago that Wollemi pines were found in a remote Australian canyon in the Blue Mountains and were saved.
They were taken into conservation and the species has managed to survive 30 years on from the discovery.
To celebrate, six seeds are being sold in an auction, with bidding closing on the 22nd. Given that fossil evidence of the species goes back 91 million years, this is an incredible victory for biodiversity.
It was previously thought to be extinct prior to the discovery and this is only the second time that seeds have ever been sold.