Don’t see the FOA scheme as yet definitive- they will have a chance to review it on site when the ground has been cleared and grassed- we may get the points knocked off then, and I certainly don’t think they have thought hard enough about the views in and out which is perhaps understandable with all the vegetation still in situ. Overall , the best way to think of FOA is as provocation, not yet, or even ever, a fixed scheme; we have to rely on the gardeners for that old trick of colonizing and improvising with whatever they find”.

Yes, I think the Manifesto says it all . I confess to a good many reservations about the FOA analysis and plan. To me, the points will be exceedingly difficult to manage; perhaps by some form of bridging or, maybe, using something(s) else there other than plants. I can’t help thinking the architects got so carried away by their researches and brilliance that they rather forgot about what it feels like to be in an exciting garden. Anyway, I look forward to what comes up at the next stage. A really original approach is much needed (and I don’t mean a Jencks Version, where random thoughts are just tacked onto a basic structure - a good structure.) Was at Barrington Court yesterday, just to be reminded of horticultural mediocrity.

This is a big change from what I heard last week. I think it is the right way to do it but you will not get a competition to enhance immediate debate around the project like in the other option. I think PR or marketing will have to change to what the thing will actually become, so it is quite difficult to know before we see what gardeners do… I will try to get it on our site, but our specialist is too busy right now. It may take some time.

Following the useful meeting with FOA last Thursday it was agreed that the planting competition needs its original focus and intention restored. My conclusions are, I think, as follows, but I would welcome any other comments:

The Competition should be specifically geared to find a new ‘hands-on’ gardener for Hadspen; it should NOT seek a proposal to be executed and maintained by others.

I propose therefore to offer the successful candidate an initial three year contract, with accommodation, plus a planting budget and logistic support.

The competition format now definitely requires CVs, representative portfolios of photographs, referees, and a statement of approach.

Applications will be screened and shortlisted in-house.

The judging panel will become an interview panel.

Each member of the interview panel must have direct gardening experience. So: poets, painters, curators, sculptors, opera designers, composers etc who have a strong parallel interest in gardening or natural ecology, or even a garden themselves……

How does this change our networking/PR strategy?