Chelsea 2014 Fresh Gardens

Fresh Gardens... for innovative and modern concepts in garden design...

Personally this is a section of the show that I have to quickly pre-condition myself as we approach it, to remind myself that this where avant-garde and out of the box designs are encouraged. To be more open minded and look beyond what meets the eye...

Funny enough I am a fan of modern art and contemporary designs and take delight in visiting museums and art galleries catered to such genres. But no need to prepare oneself as you expect it there. But in a garden show? Why not!

Or rather, why??

Anyway, take a look at some of what's on offer in the Fresh Garden Category, with simple and 'realist' commentary from yours truly!

The Mind's Eye Garden - Gold Medal

Our favourite of the lot and rightfully deserves its Gold Medal and Best in Category accolade. It's one of the few Fresh Gardens that actually traverses both a garden and a 'fresh take on a concept', and very well too and by no means an easy feat. This garden was to illustrate what it may be to be blind, rather than a garden for blind people. From within the perspex box water cascades over the sides distorting the view. Along one side coloured plastic changed the way the garden appeared. Interesting ideas and well executed.

Read More

Chelsea 2014 Show Gardens

The large Show Gardens are arguably the main stars of the Chelsea Flower Show. Okay I hear some grumbling out there that it should be the Floral Marquee exhibits but you can't deny that this is the main draw for a majority of those visiting the show, as well as those who keep an eye on the media coverage.

Medal results are out and there are loads of photos with long commentaries out there so I'll make this one simple. Without further ado here are some (or most) of them with a few simple commentaries from yours truly... 

RBC Waterscape Garden designed by Hugo Bugg - Gold Medal

We both loved this garden, with its beautiful planting and angular and architectural hard landscaping. The attention to detail was amazing and we weren't surprised at all that it won Gold.

The Telegraph Garden designed by Tommaso Del Buono and Paul Gazerwitz - Gold Medal

I must admit, when I first saw the graphical presentation of this garden I was underwhelmed but it turned out to be a lot better once executed in real life. So much so that we put this as one, if not our favourite of the show gardens. The attention to detail is astounding, the materials used and planting were exquisite. A very elegant garden.

Read More

Chelsea 2014 Artisan Gardens

Tucked away from the main show gardens are a smaller series of gardens known as the Artisan Gardens. These are all built on a tiny plot, but despite the small scale many of these really do pack in ideas, great design and interesting plants. The brief is to use natural materials in a sustainable way.

We were lucky with the weather, perfect conditions to enjoy the gardens.

Read More

A quick preview of RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014

Mark and I have just returned from the the Chelsea Flower show, so much to see and so many people to chat with. It was great to catch up with a whole bunch of fellow bloggers, nursery folk and designers, some we have met before and some new face too! As you can imagine we have taken loads of photos between us, and it will take a little longer to sort them all out, however here are a small sample of some of the gardens that caught our attention.

Read More

Chelsea 2014 - Things to Come

With the 2014 RHS Chelsea Flower Show just a couple of weeks away we thought it would be a good time to have a look at what this years show has to offer.

With the gardens divide up into the main Show gardens as well as the Artisan and Fresh Garden categories there looks to be an interesting selection of styles and ideas to explore.

As well as the outside gardens the Great Pavilion provides indoor space and includes new exhibitors such as Drointon Nurseries, City of Cape Town, Creative Garden Design and PW Bamboo, whilst longstanding exhibitor Hilliers will be creating a display on the Monument site at the centre of the Great Pavilion to mark their 150th anniversary. The Hilliers display is usually extremely bold and colourful, and normally includes a few plants we would be keen to grow at home. The quality of the garden designs look very high this year.

Hilliers are not the only exhibitor marking an anniversary in the Great Pavilion this year, others include NAFAS’s display celebrating their Emerald anniversary (55 years) titled “A Green Thought in a Green Shade”, a one-off display by Perennial marking their 175 years of support for horticulturists and a stunning display by South West in Bloom highlighting “Fifty Golden Years of Bloom”.

Chelsea has in previous years displayed many exhibits from councils up and down the country, whilst there are not as many doing this these days - (less budgets available and often less botanically minded parks departments), one council that has made a name for itself in recent years is Birmingham City Council. Their Great Pavilion display will this year remember those who were involved in the First World War. I would antipate that this will be a common theme this year on a number of exhibits, with its being 100 years since the outbreak of war and also flower shows home at the Royal Hospital.

Gardens

The Brand Alley Garden

Read More

Chelsea 2014: Cleve West and the M&G; Garden

With just 7 weeks until the 2014 RHS Chelsea Flower show we have been speaking with Cleve West, who returns to Chelsea with a design for the M&G Garden. Cleves Garden is a contemporary version of an Islamic Paradise Garden.

M&G  Chelsea Flower Show Design for 2014

What was behind the idea and inspiration for an Islamic Garden?
The basic ingredients of the early paradise gardens (shade, water, food, scent) continue to influence our gardens today two thousand years and more since the first gardens were built.  I thought it was something worth celebrating. 

Do you think there may be more interest in Islamic gardens from the British public?
Perhaps, but I don’t think this will spark a trend for Islamic gardens in the UK.  English gardens have certainly been influenced by many cultures including those early Islamic enclosures but the current trends are more towards naturalistic gardens where nature is occasionally allowed to look as though it has the upper hand. The point of the garden is to celebrate something that has stood the test of time.

Read More