2013-14

Heavy Plant Crossing is now available to book for new expeditions in gardens, festivals and event. Call 07977997609

 

Mid Summer - will see the the Plant and Julia undertaking an exciting expedition through the National Trusts Wallington Estate in Northumberland on June 20th-21st as part of  the Festival of North East 2013.

Julia invites visitors to join her and her Plant on an expedition through Wallington Hall’s woodlands and gardens.  It is a plant-finding expedition with a difference.

On the first day she will be building her ‘plant’ and setting off with the estate map into the depths of the East wood to locate and closely examine trees with intriguing habits and characteristics such as spongy  bark and giant leaves that she has heard about through idiosyncratic Trevelyan Tree Book.

She will suggest the  origins of significant finds and whether they might have arrived as seed from other plant finders travelling the world or cuttings from famous gardens nearer to home during the past 250 years.
 

On the second day the expedition will travel into the interior of the Wallington Estate into the prized Walled Garden, to enjoy the vast variety of plants in this protected terrain,  to revel in the colours and forms of the exotic plants in the micro climate of the Conservatory. And to finally ceremonially peg down a cutting from her unusual  Plant in the nursery beds of the garden before re tracing the expedition route.

Original plant-finding expeditions were supported by the Trevelyan family, different members of which were passionate about the garden and plants  at their Wallington home. Charles Trevelyan was also committed to opening up the countryside to people and gave Wallington Hall to the National Trust

The event is part of the  WALK ON: Walking Art Northumberland  an     arts event organised and funded by VARC Visual Arts in Rural Communities

 

Transplanting to the City - 26th May

Heavy Plant Crossing will be transplanted on Saturday 26th May to the Garden of Disorientation at 1pm. Reconstruction will begin from 1.30pm, help is needed as it is a very 'Heavy Plant'!



You are welcome to help follow the flat pack instructions, check the measurements, bolt together, check the levels, attach flower heads and stand back and appraise.

The Garden of Disorientation  is a fragrant  internal pop up garden venue  hosting many artists work and events over the Chelsea Fringe Festival. The space  has been designed by Deborah Nagan of  Uncommonland

A list of the events happening  here and work being shown is available at the Chelsea Fringe website.

The first screening of the Heavy Plant Crossing short digital 'buddy film', will play from 6.15pm -7.15pm on a loop on Saturday 26th May..

The film will be played daily until the 9th June along with landscape images of Allan-Pollock Morris projected onto the wall of Smithfield. 


Venue is open 11am-9pm

Project Event

A box will arrive in London with its maker and keeper. The keeper will open the box and construct a mechanical plant on wheels to travel through the streets and parks of Kensington and Chelsea. The keeper will constantly appraise and make impromptu stops to adjust the plant.

Hybridization performances will take place in parks, streets and in gardens at scheduled places and times. The keeper will re configure particular elements of the plant, changing its form each time.


The aim is to perfect the plant and reach the RHS show to win ‘Best Plant in Show’ category.

Origin of the Project

Taking the long view I can trace the origin of this project back to working in my Grans garden as a child, where I became fascinated by plants and flowers and her care for them, watering, taking cuttings, staking  and setting up wires for them to grow along. Most of all I remember how one  year I watched her dig a hole next to her Hydrangea plant into which she buried a handful of copper nails, her explanation bemused me at the time as she told me it was the nails that made the flowers turn blue.

Anything as crazy stays in your head and has to be worth investigating and now I find myself immersed in trying to understand the origins of different species of plants and the hybridization of them both natural and cultivated.