I'm really excited, I have booked tickets to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July! If it is going to be anywhere near as good as Chelsea, I'm sure to have a good time.Visitors are also able to enjoy two new categories of gardens: The Gardens of the Six Wives of Henry VIII celebrate the 500-year anniversary of the English monarch’s accession to the throne, with gardens representing each of his famous wives; Sustainability Gardens, which aim to inspire visitors who are looking for ways to be more green.
Garden your way to a healthier lifestyleGrow your own, gardening in a changing climate, healthy living and making the most of your life outdoors are just some of the main attractions at this year’s show.
Bring the taste of the good life into your home with the extensive Growing Tastes feature. This takes you from plot to plate with 14 grow your own exhibits displaying giant garlic bulbs, herbs from around the world and a variety of English as well as exotic fruit and vegetables. Cookoo Box Nursery’s Munch Your Way Through Lunch no-waste display proves that you can even produce a meal from deadheading! The central feature is a family allotment, which is bound to fuel the nation’s appetite for grow your own."
Lots of photos to come - watch this space!
Amber Freda, a modern garden designer in New York, voted "Best in New York" in 2006 by Shecky's Guides, has an interesting take on the Urban landcape New York City offers. "The more time I spend in roof gardens, the more I realize that they are never truly an escape from the city at all. The garden begins to insinuate itself into the greater backdrop of the city it lives in. The tall, columnar shapes of coniferous trees start to resemble buildings, even their staggered heights can be arranged in such a way as to create a living skyline in the foreground that mimics the city’s skyline behind it.
The gardens I design are somewhat paradoxical in the sense that they must at once escape the city and be inspired by it. Reminders of the city are all around us, with skyscrapers peeking out above the trees and railings and reinforcements on the structure of the roof that remind us of the ever-present and intrinsically precarious nature of life in the sky.
In this way, the roof garden is an extension of the city itself. Much like a living shadow, it may be quieter, softer, more mysterious and wild than the thing it is reflecting, but it is inextricably tied to the city as well. A roof garden can never be truly absent from the pulse of the city around it. Its very existence is dependent on the city’s being there as well. The city is what lends shape, character, and context to the garden. Everything that exists in the garden lives in a relationship with the city in some way, and a well-designed garden is ever conscious of this emerging dynamic."
She, and her team have worked for many notable indivisuals and companies, including former Texas governor Ann Richards, Robert De Niro, Ralph Lauren, Barry Diller, Mathias Hermes, Mercedes Benz, and Pfizer. Recent projects include Manhattan roof gardens, a 40’ tall vertical garden near Gramercy Park, courtyard gardens for co-ops in midtown New York, estate gardens in the suburbs, and numerous other private landscapes.
From her website: "My firm specializes in the design, installation, and care of urban gardens, such as roof gardens, terraces, courtyards, brownstones, container gardens, and flower gardens."
Her motivation to create roof gardens is beautiful, and environmentally responsible, as converting roofs into gardens, particularly green roofs, can reduce heat building up in the building, and the notorus 'urban heat island effect', which makes cities notably warmer than the surrounding suburbs. Vertical gardens and Living walls are a perfect for small or dark spaces, as illustrated at Chelsea this year.
Andy Goldsworthy (born 26 July 1956) is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist living in Scotland who produces site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. His art involves the use of natural and found objects, to create both temporary and permanent sculptures which draw out the character of their environment.
I haven't looked at the work of Andy Goldsworthy since I was at college, but thinking about garden design, and art and the outdoors, I have remembered why I liked him so much so many years ago. Staying true to nature, being imaginative with the worlds natural abundance, and doing so ethically and, in many cases, temporarily, are all good reasons to enjoy his work.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the first main event of the summer season and showcases the finest examples of horticultural excellence. Other events in the London social season include Royal Ascot, Wimbledon, Henley Royal Regatta, The Proms and The Grand National.
Bird Houses 'Future Nature'
Seed, Grass and Foliage Tower 'Future Nature'The ideas in this garden can be used anywhere and by anyone. Artistic use of found and re-used materials, a sense of thrift and restraint, conservation and the management of every drop of rainwater are key principles of the design. Exciting and dynamic planting are essential concepts that fit these challenging times of unpredictable climates and uncertain economics.
This is not a fanciful garden, it is real and achievable; the same principles can be applied to private gardens, community spaces, schools, factories, office developments and urban housing estates.
Future Nature is a new nature – beautiful and intimate, but also an essential part of how we could live in the future."
Dr Nigel Dunnett
The Daily Telegraph Garden by Ulf Nordfjell (Gold Award Winner and Best Show Garden)
The Marshalls Living Street by Ian Dexter (Silver Gilt Winner)
The Quilted Velvet Garden by Tony Smith (Silver Award)
The Plasticine Garden by James May (Yes, 1/3 of Top Gear)
Helios Eco Chic Garden by Kate Gould (Gold Award Winner and Best Urban Garden)"The Eco Chic garden is intended for unloved and overlooked spaces between tall buildings in our towns and cities.
Even if dull and dank, such spaces can easily be greened with planting to create an attractive, small and cosy garden for all-year use - and a place of beauty for those living in the high-rise buildings to look down onto.
The garden has a pronounced eco edge and could be built using discarded elements often left behind by builders and contractors. The hard landscaping is deliberately industrial (scaffold poles and boards, as well as expanded mesh walkways and simple permeable flooring), softened by leafy shade-tolerant planting.
A vertical planted wall with an integral water feature provides a living backdrop, contrasting with a further stone-clad wall. Light, canopied trees provide privacy from above, and shade below for seating to encourage users to sit, relax and enjoy the space.
Permeable surfaces allow the capture and re-use of rainwater, with further 'grey water' for irrigation taken from the buildings themselves."
Canary Islands Spa Garden by David Cubero and James Wong (Silver Award)
The Foreign and Colonial Investments' Garden by Thomas Hoblyn (Silver Award)
The Key by Paul Stone
The Cancer Research Garden by Robert Myers (Silver Gilt Winner)
