My City – Our Music

In more detail

• The shape of the lawn and a circular bed of sunflowers are reminiscent of the shape of a guitar while a sculpture of a double bass is a further nod to the musicians
• The bold and colourful planting includes echinaceas, lychnis and linums is a reminder of The Beatles psychedlic days

About the garden​

If you ask people what Merseyside means to them, invariably they mention The Beatles, so I designed this garden as an ode to the music for which our city has become synonymous.

The sandstone walls, from a local Liverpool quarry, are a nod to the first name of the band – The Quarrymen. The guitar shape of the grass represents the music of the ‘Merseybeat’, a term coined to sum up the collective melodic beat created by the abundance of bands that grew out of Liverpool in the late 1950s and 1960s.

The garden is an open space filled with vibrant colours and calming tones. I based the colours and content on four album covers – The White Album, for the white border and a green apple tree representing the ‘Apple label’ on the album. Sergeant Pepper and Yellow Submarine provided the zingy colours, while the black and white paving leading to the bench in the garden is representative of the iconic image of The Beatles walking across the zebra crossing on the Abbey Road album cover.

The sturdy bench provides a place to sit and reflect on the delight of our city and the music that it has given the world. It is embossed with the title of the song Norwegian Wood, hopefully leaving a tune in your head for the rest of the day.

This garden won the BBC Radio Merseyside design competition in association with the RHS.