Practice Landscape

The Croft Garden makes a statement about the productive industrial landscapes by creating a Hortus conclusus in which plants are the main protagonists (and horticulture is emphasised). The large volume of the former barn (can be seen as a symbol of this agricultural production. It has been reduced to a wooden wall.
The landscape architects of ‘landscape practice’, a four-woman company that promotes garden culture, juxtapose this peaceful garden with the reality of agricultural production and inherent exploitation. They have created an island of tranquillity and togetherness for individuals, neighbouring farmers and friends. The planting scheme focuses on perennials, with only three Crataegus visible from the outside, emphasising the place’s introversion. The wide variety and continuous development contrast with the monocultural production outside the garden.
The Croft Garden project goes beyond skilful garden design. It is – in a successful interplay with the conversion of the barn – a powerful call to rethink the way we abuse agricultural land. It offers a way of adapting and re-using its structures and the land itself.