The Tree Nursery Visit

Belgium

SOLITAIR

November marked our second visit to the Belgian tree nursery ‘Solitair’—and the smiles on Dan’s face and mine said it all.

Catching the first Eurostar out of St Pancras, we arrived at the nursery by midday, only to be greeted with extraordinary news. The two exceptional character pines we had tagged on our previous trip—affectionately known as ‘The Brothers’—had suddenly become available at 10 p.m. the night before, despite having been allocated to a private project.

To quote Dirk Cools, the founder of Solitair: “We believe the most inspiring trees are those one-of-a-kind trees shaped by nature itself. To see these rescued pines become the heart of a Chelsea garden is a celebration of what beauty can be created by nature. As growers, it is rare for us to be able to offer trees with such an untouched, wild, and authentic character.”

Thus our trees were soon “in motion,” with the help of a fork lift we spend a few hours mocking up the Chelsea garden. Exploring how their branches might be oriented, how they would engage with the built elements, and how they could be positioned so that they almost—though not quite—kissed each other….

Below, a few punctuation forms under consideration.