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Show Gardens contd.
Celtic Sanctuary
(Gold) This was one garden that was, frankly, very hard for visitors to asses as, apart from a tantalising glimpse through a wonderful circular stone gate it was impossible to see or appreciate the planting or design hidden within. What could be seen was a rounded entrance area backed by a round well, a reference to the holy well at Glastonbury.
Planting of the dry stonewalls and banks that surrounded the garden were in grasses and ferns and a scattering of wildflowers. Hawthorn trees were used because of their importance in Celtic lore.
It must have been wonderful as the judges awarded a gold medal, but a garden? Perhaps not in the conventional sense. And this has eliminated contemporary gardens from the judge's consideration in the past.
West Midlands-Shizuoka Goodwill Garden (West Midlands Farmyard)
(Silver Gilt) The West Midlands farmyard was just that - a farmyard complete with tumbledown barn and ageing Ferguson tractor at the end of a rough track. A five bar farm gate and an ancient wooden barrow filled with stable muck added authenticity.
In keeping with tendency towards wild and ecological planting that was seen in several gardens, designer Julian Dowle planted a 'garden' in front of the barn and included old favourites and wildflowers. Old vines twined along a rusticated picket fence and in such a 'wild' garden foxgloves were de rigueur, as were buttercups.
The rest of the planting was apparently artless simple and actually quite sophisticated. Greenish plantings such as giant hogweed echoed the colouring of nearby euphorbias and balanced the more colourful planting opposite. Roses, salvias, dianthus, centaurea, larkspur, hostas, aquilegias, and fennel were massed on the other side of a rustic path leading to an old wooden bench.
Elevation
(Silver Gilt) For Thompson landscapes Erik de Maeijer and Jane Hudson worked on a scheme designed to introduce "a feeling of elevation and lightness". Based on circles the garden was simple in theme with the curving wall, circular wooden deck and large stone orbs all reinforcing the theme.
The wooden deck, occupied by a hammock and a striking funnel of water, formed a calm space inside the curved wall, backed by airy bamboo, which moved wonderfully in the windy Chelsea weather.
Plants were selected to give the look of a balanced plant community - in tune with the theme of 'wildness' in this year's Show.
Alliums were to the fore in the planting, nepeta and hardy geraniums. Scattered magenta thistles (Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum') broke up the haze of mauve. Spires of foxgloves, verbascum and Sisyrinchium striatum, introduced a change of form and a fresh colour note with creamy yellows and white. Mounds of fennel, fountains of cow parsley and blocks of Anchusa 'Loddon Royalist' gave mass to the garden.
Garden of Transparency
(Silver Gilt) Charles Funke's design for His Highness Shaikh bin Sultan al Nayhan used curving arches of hornbeam to define a bold axis along a central canal, creating a calm, restrained garden.
A series of cross axes down the garden focused on seating, an intimate dining area and orange trees. One of the most formal gardens in the Show, it demonstrated that 'wildness' was not only way to create a striking garden.
The central canal was scattered with water lilies and focused on a large, contemporary urn. Furniture was light and airy wire with comfortable creamy squabs for comfort.
Planting consisted of masses of white roses (R. 'Winchester Cathedral') interspersed with splashes of bright colour from orange trees.
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Celtic Sanctuary
West Midlands-Shizuoka Goodwill Garden
A bucolic farmyard scene in the midst of Chelsea
Elevation
Circular themes and a water spout
Garden of Transparency
Masses of white roses, a series of seating areas on the cross axes | |
