The M&G Contemporary Paradise Garden

Designed by Cleve West. Invented by the Persians more than a thousand years ago, paradise gardens are spaces for sanctuary and contemplation. Cleve is known for designs which combine the classic with the contemporary and in his plan for The M&G Garden he is using ancient elements of water, shade and planting to create a paradise garden fit for 2014. The result is a showcase of how British garden design has evolved yet retains many features that have stood the test of time, an approach that reflects M&G Investments’ own company values.

The M&G Garden’s centrepiece is a tall, octagonal fountain within a sunken base, built from traditional British Bath limestone and flint. The water flows into four rills, through a stone edged sunken terrace and into an octagonal perimeter. The rills are a nod to the four rivers that are said to have flowed through the Garden of Eden, which many might think of as the original paradise garden.

Behind the fountain, flanked by yew hedging, is a vast limestone relief depicting the Tree of Life, painstakingly engraved across five panels by Cleve himself. The tree’s carved roots reach out to the planting below it, giving life to The M&G Garden and representing the roots of many gardens throughout the world.

Arithmetic and ancient science inform other aspects of the design. The number four is referenced again in the planting of four trees around the fountain, representing the classical elements of earth, air, fire and water. Each tree sits in a bed of planting in which perennials, bulbs and herbs jostle for position.

Plant list:

English Yew (Taxus baccata)
Hairy Canary Clover (Dorycnium hirsutum)
Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis)
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Hairy Melic (Melica ciliata)
Bear’s Breeches (Acanthus ‘Rue Ledan’)
Silver Mound (Artemisia schmiidtiana)
Centaurea ‘Phoenix Hybrids’
Dianthus carthusianorum ‘Miss Farrow’
Gillenia trifoliata
Purple Toadflax (Linaria purpurea)
Senecio polyodon
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Euphorbia ‘Compton Ash’
Mint (Mentha sp.)
Thyme (Thymus sp.)