Class title: A Walk in the Bush
Staging: plinth, space allowed 1.5 metres by 80cm, Australian native plant material only, judged all around.
We are fortunate in this country to have an incredibly broad range of native plant material so that a walk in the bush, anywhere, in this vast country would give you a wonderful choice of material to use.
The title indicates to me that this should be a “Naturalistic” design, meaning it should look as though it has been “scooped” from it natural environment.
The base shape is created with two large gum tree branches that have convenient hollows to allow placement of other plant material in water sources. As a feature I have reconstructed a small cycad using fronds cut from a growing one, stripping the individual leaves to create the base growth. All of these are placed in foam inside a hollowed out trunk from a (sadly deceased) grass tree (xanthorrea). Native grass has been placed in a natural position against the base branches on the opposite side to the cycad. Natural bush mulch is scattered around the design as well as inside the growth area of the cycad for authenticity.
A beautiful piece of naturally curled bark is placed over the “fallen” branches.
When I viewed this design just prior to judging I felt that the two ends were cutting the design short so added some woolly bush as a softener.
Judges feedback: A good design that makes you feel like you are in the bush. It would have been improved with some plant material that brought your eyes back into the design from each end.
