For one day a year, thousands of visitors from as far and wide as Canada and New Zealand flock to visit the private garden of internationally renowned and distinguished architectural writer and designer Charles Jencks, when the garden is opened to the public in order to raise money for charity.
Jencks and his late wife Maggie Keswick, herself an expert on Chinese gardens, conceived this unique garden in 1989 and throughout its evolution continued to consult with horticulturists and scientists in order to design a landscape inspired by the principles of modern physics and, according to Jencks, capture the basic elements that underlie the Cosmos and bridge the worlds of Art, Nature and Science.
A garden based around the Jencks’ passion for horticulture, genetics, cosmology and landscape architecture was always going to be unconventional, after all where else can you see a water feature tell the story of the universe or take in the beautiful Dumfriesshire countryside from a terrace that shows the distortion of space and time caused by a black hole.
Occupying over 30 acres, the garden explores the themes of DNA, the senses (including humour) and the concepts of space and time via forty major areas, each one like a work of art. These include landforms, sculptures, terraces and wave-fences all connected by a number of man-made lakes, bridges and other architectural creations, as well as mixture of specimen trees and an intricately designed walled garden filled with perennials.
The landscape at Portrack is virtually impossible to describe and has to be experienced to be believed and fully understood. The Garden of Cosmic Speculation will open on Sunday 6th May, 2018. Tickets will be released on Thursday 1st February, 2018 with proceeds going to charity. Visit The Garden of Cosmic Speculation for further information or to purchase tickets.
This article is solely authored by Greycoat Lumleys
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