INCLUDING EXAMINERS COMMENTS R3111 UNDERSTANDING GARDEN SURVEY TECHNIQUES & DESIGN PRINCIPLES Level 3 Thursday 8 February 018 09:30 10:55 Written Examination Candidate Number: Candidate Name: Centre Number/Name:.. IMPORTANT Please read carefully before commencing: i) The duration of this paper is 85 minutes; ii) iii) iv) ALL questions should be attempted; EACH question carries 10 marks; Write your answers legibly in the spaces provided. It is NOT necessary that all lined space is used in answering the questions; v) Use METRIC measurements only; vi) vii) viii) ix) Use black or blue ink only. Pencil may be used for drawing purposes only; Where plant names are required, they should include genus, species and where appropriate, cultivar; Where a question requires a specific number of answers; only the first answers given that meet the question requirement will be accepted, regardless of the number of answers offered; Please note, when the word distinct is used within a question, it means that the items have different characteristics or features. Ofqual Unit Code M/507/586 Please turn over/..
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS Q1 Describe the representative characteristics of a Japanese style garden. Please see over/.. MARKS 10
Please turn over/.. Total Mark 3
Q a) b) Define what is meant by borrowed landscape. Describe FOUR distinct examples of the use of borrowed landscape in the design of a garden.. Please see over/.. MARKS 8 4
Please turn over/.. Total Mark 5
Q3 a) State the function of the following when surveying levels: i) the tripod; ii) booking sheets. 1 1 b) Describe the correct method for using a staff when taking level readings. Please see over/.. 3 6
c) List FIVE potential benefits of a sloping site. Please turn over/.. 5 Total Mark 7
Q4 Define what is meant by the following surveying terms: i) baseline; ii) triangulation; iii) offsets; iv) running measurements; v) datum level. Please see over/.. 8
. Please turn over/.. Total Mark 9
Q5 Describe FIVE ways in which existing services can influence the planning and design of a garden.... Please see over/.. MARKS 10 10
... Please turn over/.. 11 Total Mark
Q6 a) State an example of: i) a pair of contrasting (complementary) colours; ii) a pair of harmonious colours; iii) an advancing colour; iv) a receding colour. 1 1 1 1 b) Describe THREE distinct methods in which colour can be used effectively in the garden. 1 Please see over/.. 6
. Please turn over/.. Total Mark 13
Q7 a) b) Name TWO historical formal garden styles. Describe FOUR distinct examples that demonstrate how the principle of form and space can be applied to the design of a formal garden.... MARKS 8 Please see over/.. 14
... Please turn over/.. Total Mark 15
Q8 a) A client has expressed a wish to include a sports area in the garden: Identify FIVE pieces of information that would be required to develop the design brief. 5............... Please see over/.. 16
b) Describe TWO site characteristics that must be assessed during a site appraisal for the installation of a NAMED sports area................... ******* 5 Total Mark 17
These questions are the property of the Royal Horticultural Society. They must not be reproduced or sold. The Royal Horticultural Society, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU3 6QB. Charity Registration Number: 879/SC0386 18
R3111 UNDERSTANDING GARDEN SURVEY TECHNIQUES & DESIGN PRINCIPLES Level 3 Thursday 9 February 018 Candidates Registered 183 Total Candidates Passed 90% Candidates Entered 159 Passed with Commendation 44% Candidates Absent/Withdrawn 0 Passed 46% Candidates Deferred 4 Failed 10% Senior Examiner s Comments On the whole this paper was well answered with the majority of candidates attempting and completing all the questions. The following guidelines should be of help to future candidates. 1. Where named plant examples are asked for, full botanical names (genus and species) are required to achieve full marks. Common names will not be given a mark.. Use the command statements e.g. list or name (single words only), state (a few sentences), describe or explain (a fuller answer) together with the mark allocation, to judge the depth of the answer. Half marks are often allocated where the basic information given is correct but needs further qualification to gain the full mark. 3. Where a number of answers are specified in the question, the examiner will not select correct answers from a list e.g. if the question states State TWO plant names, only the first two names given will be marked. 4. Labels on diagrams should be correctly positioned to avoid ambiguity and diagrams should be clearly drawn and annotated. No marks will be awarded for artistic merit. 5. Candidates should use unambiguous plant examples as reference sources from, for example, the RHS Find a Plant Service available on the RHS Website. 19
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS Q1 Describe the representative characteristics of a Japanese style garden. MARKS 10 Q1 Candidates were able to identify and describe the principle features of a Japanese garden. No marks could be awarded for descriptions of Japanese religion, philosophy or cultural beliefs. Marks were credited for good descriptions of a range of soft and hard landscaping features, including decorative elements. Candidates described how various components are selected and laid out to represent natural features of the landscape such as mountains and flowing water being represented by carefully chosen rocks and raked fine gravel. Evergreen shrubs and trees are pruned in a highly controlled way to represent clouds, and other genera such as Acer will be allowed to grow naturally, to echo trees found in the landscape. Japanese style gardens are often filled with beautiful decorative objects and plants which have traditional symbolic significance such as the tea house, stone lanterns, flowering Prunus trees and bamboo structures. The best answers to this question gave descriptions of clearly stated characteristics of Japanese style gardens. Where a characteristic was described in some detail, i.e. with additional information to enhance the description, then that will have counted as two of the ten points necessary for full marks. Examples of such detailed descriptions would have been Stones and rocks selected for their form and to represent mountains in the natural landscape or Dry garden where raked gravel is used to represent flowing water. 0
Q a) Define what is meant by borrowed landscape. b) Describe FOUR distinct examples of the use of borrowed landscape in the design of a garden. 8 Q a) Most candidates correctly identified the term borrowed landscape as referring to the technique of including elements of the view outside of the garden boundary to enhance and complement the garden within. However, full marks would not have been awarded unless the answer made it clear that the borrowed landscape is intentionally incorporated into the design of a garden, in order to enhance that garden design in some way. Candidates found it difficult to identify and describe four distinct examples of the use of borrowed landscape in the design of a garden. b) Acceptable examples included: -Mimicking visible characteristics of the outside landscape within the garden -Using a visible feature within the outside landscape as a focal point for the garden -Creating vantage points within the garden that link with the visible landscape outside -Blurring the physical boundaries of the garden so it appears continuous with the outside landscape such as using a ha-ha in an English Landscape garden -Incorporating a Claire Voie as gap in a wall of hedge to frame a view In order to gain full marks, answers such as these needed to be reinforced with a fuller description, providing methods/examples of how it could be achieved. E.g. for mimicking visible characteristics of the outside landscape, suitable additional description would be by including similar features, e.g. cultivars of native tree species that occur in surrounding woods. Where an answer was repeated a second time but simply with a different example, marks were not awarded for the second answer. E.g. If the use of similar trees, had been cited as above, as an example of mimicking the outside landscape, then a second similar answer with a different example, e.g. using the same rock type, would not have been awarded marks. Very few candidates used blurring of boundaries between the garden and land beyond by using planting to disguise man-made boundaries, although many did mention the use of avenues leading to distant country views in formal Renaissance gardens. 1
Q3 a) State the function of the following when surveying levels: i) the tripod; ii) booking sheets. 1 1 b) Describe the correct method for using a staff when taking level readings. 3 c) List FIVE potential benefits of a sloping site. 5 Q3 a) The function of the tripod and the booking sheet in level surveying were correctly stated by most candidates. Suitable answers would have been as follows: i) The tripod holds the levelling instrument in a firm and level position so that the line of collimation remains horizontal ii) The booking sheets are for recording the readings from the staff and the reduced levels calculated from those readings. Many candidates failed to mention the calculation of the rise and fall. b) In order to get full marks for describing the correct method for using the staff, three relevant points were required. These could have included: - The staff must be positioned in view of the levelling instrument - It must be held upright - Locking buttons secured when telescopically extended - Holder s hands should not be covering the markings - Can use tripod when no assistant available Suitable diagrams showing the staff markings, the cross hairs and how to read the staff were also accepted as a valid answer. Candidates who described the different types of readings taken from the staff in the level surveying process were not awarded marks for this part of the question.
c) A wide range of answers were possible for this question and many candidates scored highly. There was a slight subtlety to the question in that it asked for benefit and not just uses. Five potential benefits of a sloping site include: -Good drainage/drier soil on slopes -Potential for ponds/ bogs in dips and ditches -Views from high points -South facing slopes warmer/microclimates -Rising ground allows tiered planting displays Where similar benefits were repeated, no marks were awarded for the second answer. A typical example of this from the answers given, was the use of the slope to display landscape features such as rock gardens, ornamental steps and terraces. Only one of such examples would have been accepted. 3
Q4 Define what is meant by the following surveying terms: i) baseline; ii) triangulation; iii) offsets; iv) running measurements; v) datum level. Q4 In order to achieve full marks, correct definitions of the five different surveying terms needed to include both a statement of what the term means and a statement of what it is used for in surveying. i) ii) iii) iv) v) For baseline, the initial statement could have been a fixed line between two known points followed by a second statement used as a reference for plotting other points by means of measurements taken along, and from, the baseline. For triangulation the first statement could have been a surveying method that measures the line between two known points and the angles of a triangle and the second statement it is used to plot an unknown point where the two other sides of the triangle intersect. It should be noted that trilateration, using only linear measurements and not angles, was also accepted if fully defined in the way described above. Offsets are linear measurements taken at right angles to a baseline in order to plot the position of unknown points in relation to that baseline. Oblique offsets were also accepted where correctly explained. Running measurements are continuous (cumulative) measurements at key intervals along a survey line to plot the position of various points that occur at intervals on that line. They are consecutive readings from zero. Datum level refers to a known level or benchmark or temporary benchmark used to establish relative rise and fall (and reduced levels) in a level survey. 4
Q5 Describe FIVE ways in which existing services can influence the planning and design of a garden. MARKS 10 Q5 This question was looking for the influence of existing services on design. Many candidates clearly did not read the question properly, and they omitted to mention any effect on the design outcome. A suitable description of a way in which existing services can influence the design and planning of a garden would consist of two elements. Firstly, it would need identify the type of service and the design intention that is likely to be impacted by it. Secondly, it would need to identify how design or planning could address the problem/opportunity caused by this impact. E.g. one suitable answer could state initially that underground services e.g. (gas) could impact on construction of foundations for hard landscape features. Secondly, that the problem could be avoided by repositioning or redesigning the feature or possibly by re-routing the service line. Other situations that could have been described include -Overhead services being an eyesore in the design and affecting the way the final design is orientated -Overhead services impacting on the planting position of trees and other vertical features in a design -Underground services potentially providing useful supply for features within a garden e.g. close distance to an existing water tap might affect the choice of location of a vegetable garden. - Underground services such as gas pipes may result in reduced soil depth and therefore affect above-ground landscaping, limiting what may be planted, as shallow soil is not suitable for deep rooted plants. 5
Q6 a) State an example of: i) a pair of contrasting (complementary) colours; ii) a pair of harmonious colours; iii) an advancing colour; iv) a receding colour. 1 1 1 1 b) Describe THREE distinct methods in which colour can be used effectively in the garden. 6 Q6 a) i) ii) iii) iv) This part of the question was answered very well by most candidates, by stating: a pair of contrasting (complementary) colours -red/green, OR blue/orange, OR yellow/purple. a pair of harmonious colours -blue/green, green/yellow, yellow/orange, orange/red, red/purple, purple/blue. an advancing colour -red, magenta, orange, yellow, white. a receding colour -purples, (cool) blues, green, black, brown, also unsaturated colours e.g. pale pink, peach, primrose yellow. b) Whilst many candidates clearly enjoyed this question and showed their understanding of colour use, a significant number merely stated examples of colour combinations without further detail. Candidates were asked for DISTINCT methods of using colour effectively, so the best marks were awarded to those who found a range of methods including: - Creating an energising /invigorating mood through use of hot colours such as orange and red - Using colour to make garden appear longer, advancing colours such as reds in fore ground with soft blues, greys in background. - Using colour as an accent one strong colour to pick out feature or plant from muted background, as focal point e.g. an orange bench against a yew hedge. -Using colour to create a mood or theme in the garden e.g. soft harmonious colours such as lilacs and blues can evoke a feeling of calm. - Using colour to help an object recede from view e.g. painting a trellis dark grey -The repeated or sequential colours/combinations with examples, to create rhythm/ movement in e.g. a border 6
Q7 a) Name TWO historical formal garden styles. b) Describe FOUR distinct examples that demonstrate how the principle of form and space can be applied to the design of a formal garden. 8 Q7 a) All candidates were able to name examples from a large number of historical formal garden styles. Two such examples are Moorish and Italian Renaissance. b) In describing distinct examples of the application of the principle of form and space in design of formal gardens, candidates would have to make distinct reference to both form and space. However, this was a difficult concept for some. Some answers given were not sufficiently distinct, e.g. the placement of an urn in the centre of a round grass area would not have been considered sufficiently distinct from a fountain in the centre of a square paved area. Possible answers were: -Garden can be divided into separate rooms using the vertical forms of clipped hedging enclosing open spaces e.g. lawn or brick patio. -The intricate form of a parterre of low box hedging surrounded by the open space of wide gravel walkways - A large modernist fountain and basin providing eye catching form and set in the centre of an open grassed space - An avenue of tall beech trees flanking either side of a wide straight formal drive 7
Q8 A client has expressed a wish to include a sports area in the garden: a) Identify FIVE pieces of information that would be required to develop the design brief. 5 b) Describe TWO site characteristics that must be assessed during a site appraisal for the installation of a NAMED sports area. 5 Q8 a) The client brief is very much about asking questions of the client in order to fulfil their wishes and get the best solution for them. So as this question is about a sports area, the information solicited should be about their intended use of the sports area and their wishes for how it should fit into the garden as a whole. For full marks the candidate should clearly state 5 different topics - otherwise the designer would not be able to develop the client brief. Technical aspects of the site, that the designer would investigate through a site appraisal, were not accepted as answers to this part of the question. Suitable items of information could have included: --The users of the sports area, their ages, gender etc. The type of sport that is to be played The frequency of intended use Whether the sports area needs to be visible from the house The budgets available for construction/maintenance. b) Answers to this part of the question were determined by what sport the candidate specified; unfortunately, some forgot to specify a sport. It was important for full marks, that candidates were clear in naming a particular type of sports area, e.g. a grass tennis court. Having named this, suitable descriptions of two site characteristics that needed to be assessed during a site appraisal would have included identifying the characteristic and a statement on how this could influence the design/planning of the sports area. Two suitable characteristics for a grass tennis court would be: -Topography. A grass tennis court requires a level site, so depending on the location chosen within the garden, expensive ground works may be required which could also impact on other parts of the garden. - Soil texture/structure. The physical qualities of the soil would affect its suitability for establishing a grass sward of the required quality and the resources necessary to maintain that sward. 8
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