Category: Landscape News

We have planted the seedlings in the greenhouses and summer growing area, many vegetables and some melons. It was a fantastic effort getting all the planting done, which was satisfying to all.

The soil is fine and over the years it will get better and better. The trenches have been excellent for seedling development and have provided us with our own seedlings. Now all carriers are full and the total for the greenhouse and summer growing area is more than 70.

We have mulched our fruit tree beds which will help to begin to create better soil and retain moisture – increasingly important as now summer is here, I am also reminded of how strong the sun is and how hot it will get over the next few months.

This week has been a good week with continued progression. We finished planting trees in the visitor’s centre and have created some small flowerbeds, filling them with flowers beneath. Jigmet of the Visitor Centre has taken full responsibility for irrigating what we have planted this year.

On Monday we went to Taglang-la to collect slate. It was an interesting day and great to see so much beautiful stone all around the mountain. I tried to take two main colours so that a substantial amount was obtained but there is a plethora of available stone up there some in the most beautiful colours.

On Friday a delivery from Jains arrived which is a promising sign, their MD from Srinagar is in Ladakh next week and is scheduling a meeting/visit here. Aside from all the seedlings that we planted inside the green house, we have planted a few more trees inside the visitors centre terrace and made use of the plant stock we have been developing, by planting out two borders inside the Visitor Centre.

With Simon, as resident landscape architect, and Sarah, as a volunteer landscape architect, work on implementing the plan got off to a great start in the spring of 2013. A plant nursery has been established, a landscape office has been built, the spine path has been planted and work is underway on the terrace in front of the visitor centre. Simon and Sarah will be returning to the UK in mid-summer and their places will be taken by Paddy, as resident landscape architect, and Arlene, as a volunteer landscape architect. Arlene’s trip will be funded by the UK Landscape Institute’s Travel Award. Thank you and good luck to all concerned!

In April the entire school observed Plantation Day. Different areas of the school campus as well as the staff quarters were allocated to different classes for planting. Many trees were planted all over the campus.

After a cold winter, landscape work resumed in the Spring of 2013. Simon returned for a second period as the resident landcsape architect. He flew to Nepal and travelled to Ladakh on his motor bike. Sarah, also a Greenwich landscape architect, joined him to work as a volunteer landscape architect. The irrigation pipes supplied by Jains can be seen in the background, waiting to be installed in the next month or so. The photographs are both of the nursery compound which was built in 2012 to Simon’s design. This work has to proceed the main planting because Ladakh does not have a nursery industry which could supply trees and other plants.

Buddhist Garden Design History

On 26th February 2013 Tom Turner is giving a lecture about the influence of Buddhism on garden design, followed by a lecture by Simon Drury-Brown on the possible design of a Dragon Garden for the Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India. Tickets are available from Eventbrite. The lectures will be in the King William Building on the Maritime Campus, starting at 6.30 pm

We wish to create a lush garden landscape for the school community. We started this year in April with a volunteer landscape architect, Yiannis Baltagiannis, creating planted areas along the central residential spine of the campus, see below:

Yiannis started a plant nursery to nurture seedlings for additional planting, see below:

Yiannis also got the greenhouse in use again following the winter, see below:

After three months, Simon Brown, another volunteer landscape architect, took over from Yiannis.

Simon developed the plant nursery concept with a specialist from the University of Greenwich, London, Tom Turner. A new planting area in front of the greenhouse has been created for growing vegetables, see below:

Drip irrigation of the campus is planned for 2013, allowing controlled watering and efficient use of water.

We are creating a landscape strategy with help from specialists at the University of Greenwich. Tom Turner, spent two weeks in Ladakh to help with this process, see below:

The students enjoyed the summer gardening competition in which they worked on garden areas outside their classrooms, see below:

The students worked hard on designing, planting and nurturing their gardens over the spring and summer. The landscape architecture volunteer Yiannis Baltagiannis awarded certificates and trophies to the winning class in each section.

Staff and students from the University of Greenwich Landscape Architecture programmes are offering to help make a garden for the Druk (Dragon) White Lotus School in Ladakh, India. The design of the Druk White Lotus School, by Arup Associates, is based on a Tibetan mandala. ‘Mandala’ is a Sanskrit word. It was used for the sections of the Rig Veda and became associated with a visual symbol, based on a circle and square, used for the layout of temples and the design of stupas and many other sacred objects. DWLS was severely damaged by a mudslide in 2010. The site is in a cold desert and there is a great need for a garden and landscape environment. If a project is seen to be viable, our hope is to pioneer an approach to cold desert landscape design which will have a wider relevance in the Himalayan region. Global warming is causing the glaciers to retreat and putting the whole area at risk.