Designer creates living outside office at RHS Flower ShowCardiff

Garden designer and landscaper Robert Hughes is creating what he considers the ideal office lifewith a dual purpose urban concept garden, 'Office Box'.

The space is designed to allow people to work, create and "think freely" outdoors and features ahidden fold-out desk, benches and contemporary shelving cubes.

The ordered, geometric style is mirrored in the planting and box cube topiary Hughes has createdwith the expertise of Best4hedging, which supplied the plants for this project.

An L-shaped pool is located on the raised patio area and the whole garden is designed for compactspaces, in line with the 'Simple Spaces: Amazing Places' RHS theme showing how small areas can betransformed into inspiring and amazing gardens.

"Being outside among nature while we work brings clarity and improves our productivity," Hughes,who runs Robert Hughes Garden Design Landscaping in Cardiff, said.

"I wanted to create a simple, elegant but exciting workspace that complements and yet contrastsnature. It is vital for us to maintain and improve our environment not just for ourselves but forothers and for wildlife.

"From the calming elements of the pond and the flowers providing pollen for insects and seeds forbirds, to the green roof soaking up large quantities of water, which would normally end up in ourcongested drains, the Office Box is a garden which works to improve our immediate environment onso many levels."

Nursery manager of Best4hedging Gareth James said: "The topiary was one of the most integralparts of Robert's design. He explained the vital role it played in connecting the hard landscaping andarchitecture to the rest of the garden, so it had to have the right form to achieve the result he waslooking for.

"The Buxus topiary cubes used create soft boundaries, blurring the hard lines and soft natural

textures to bring it all together as one harmonious space. It's a great example of how the righttopiary and shape can make all the difference."

RHS Cardiff runs from 17 to 19 April at Bute Park, Cardiff Castle.

http://www.hortweek.com/designer-creates-living-outside-office-rhs-flower-show-cardiff/landscape/article/1341876