July 2012

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Budding gardeners at Tatton Flower Show

21 July 2012 | Permalink

bagpuss-by-thelwall-community-infant-school-tatton-flower-show

The Front to Front Gardens were all made by local school children. They were involved in designing, growing and building the gardens.   They are based on the children’s favourite TV programmes.  They are based on children’s TV programmes.

The Bagpuss garden was made by pupils at Thelwall Community Infant School in Warrington.  Everyone who helped with the garden wrote their name on a painted stone.

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Bill and Ben sit in their garden made by Greenfields Primary school from Winsford.

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Whirley Primary School in Macclesfield made their Tales of the Riverbank garden with water tolerant plants.

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The Clangers garden was made by Springfield School from Crewe, complete with a knitted clanger.

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Floral Design at Tatton Flower Show – Flights of Fancy

21 July 2012 | 1 comment

the-sun-by-askham-bryan-college

This year there is a special competition for colleges, with the theme Flights of Fancy.  This links in with Tatton Park’s Art Biennial theme.   The colleges were given a space of 2m x 2.5m to work within.

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The award for best exhibit was given to Askham Bryan College, for their stunning design ‘The Sun’.  They also achieved a Silver-Gilt medal.  Their designs featured a frame of copper pipes holding perspex rings and rings covered in coloured wool.

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Hundreds of test tubes held flower in shades of red, oranges and yellows including phalaenopis orchids, gloriosa, calla lilies, oncidium orchids, craspedia, and echivaria.  Strands of threaded hypericum berries hung around the design.

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Bishop Burton College gained a Bronze Grenfell medal for their design, ‘The Flight of Amy Johnson’. They used flowers to represent places that Amy travelled to on her pioneering flights in the 1930s, including England, Australia and India. They used orchids, scabious, celosia, calla lilies, agapanthus, echinops, alliums, anthuriums, cinnamon sticks and aloe vera plants.

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Water meadows and flights of floral ‘birds’ were the inspiration behind East Surrey College’s design, they were awarded a Silver Grenfell medal.  They used frames woven with textiles and test tubes to hold materials in place.  Their design featured strelitzia, longiflorum lilies, anthuriums, roses, chrysanthemums, snake grass and gerberas.

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Time & Tide: Caldwell’s & Canute

20 July 2012 | Permalink

caldwell's-and-canute-tatton-flower-show

This garden has a local story behind it. Caldwell’s of Knutsford was one of the oldest nurseries in the North of England, it traded from the 1780s to 1991.  It has an important history supplying some of the country’s finest gardens, including Tatton Park.

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The Cheshire Gardens Trust has started a project to transcribe seventeen ledgers from Caldwell’s that survive today.  They contain vast amounts of information on customers, changes in plant fashion, worker’s wages, methods of transport and prices.  One of Caldwell’s first customers was John Wedgwood, who co-founded what is now known as the RHS.

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The garden was designed by Jacquetta Menzies and made by volunteers from the Cheshire Gardens Trust and WAP & Son.  The design is corner of a larger garden in a coastal setting, based on the golden ratio, a proportion found in nature.  The golden ratio was often featured in gardens during the 18th Century when Caldwell’s Nursery was established.

The garden is inspired by King Canute, the nurseries logo.  The spiral path represents the swirling sea of Canute’s legend, with the rectangular windbreak symbolising the work of Cheshire Garden’s Trust, which aims to capture the receding tide of history and memories.

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Christine Wilcox-Baker designed the ethereal sculpture of the ancient king which presides over the garden.  The sheltering figure contrasts with an open contemporary area.  The planting on the enclosed bank is inspired by the Irish Sea coast.  Delicate flowers and grasses in blues, whites and silvers provide a soft flowing movement in the centre.

A full plant list can be found on The Cheshire Gardens Trust website.

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Show Gardens at Tatton Flower Show

19 July 2012 | Permalink

remount-by-stephen-dennis-and-platinum-gardens

I featured The Mornflake Garden on my blog on Tuesday, it won the award for best Show Garden.  I’ve included a two of my favourite Show Gardens in today’s blog. The full list of medals is available at the bottom of the page.

The garden above is Remount sponsored by Brett Landscaping and Gaze Burvill.  It was designed by Stephen Dennis and Platinum Gardens.  The garden was awarded a silver-gilt medal. The design features an old barn, which has been turned into a modern space.  The beautiful planting in pinks and blues complements and softens the paving.

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This garden is aptly named Nature Squared.  I love the gabion wall filled with textured materials to create lots of nooks and crannies for crawly creatures. The garden was designed and made by students at Reaseheath College in Nantwich and sponsered by Trentham Gardens.  It has clipped vertical structures and geometric shapes, which have created multiple habitat niches to encourage native wildlife.  The the vibrant herbaceous planting helps attract pollinating insects.  The garden shows how it is possible to have contemporary design whilst encouraging biodiversity.

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List of Medals for Show Gardens

Best Show Garden:
The Mornflake Garden – designed by Janine Crimmins
Built by Andrew Loudon

Gold:
The Mornflake Garden – designed by Janine Crimmins
Built by Andrew Loudon

World without Torture – by Howard & Dori Miller
Built by Landstruction

Silver-Gilt Flora:
A Taste of Ness – designed by Phillippa Probert
Built by Outer Spaces

Nature Squared – designed by Reaseheath College
Built by Reaseheath College

Remount – designed by Stephen Dennis & Platinum Gardens
Built by Platinum Gardens

Interplantatary Travel – A Flight of Fancy – designed by Tatton Park Gardens
Built by Tatton Park Gardens

Silver Flora:
Time & Tide: Cauldwell’s & Canute – designed by Jacquetta Menzies & Christine Wilcox-Baker
Built by WAP Lawton & Son Ltd with Cheshire Gardens Trust Volunteers

Reflections – designed by Harry Levy
Built by The Pond Building Company

Metamorphosis – designed by prison staff and prisoners on Release on Temporary Licence

Making a Splash – designed by Jackie Knight
Built by Jackie Knight Landscapes

Enchantment – designed by Clare Edwards and Claire Skidmore
Built by Muddy Boots, The Garden Builders

A Year in the life of DreamScheme – designed by Young people from New Charter DreamScheme
Built by New Charter Building Company

Bronze Flora:
Ring the Changes – designed by Will & Amber Lyon
Built by Together trust & The Manchester College

The Modern Romantics – designed by Carolyn Hardern
Built by Carolyn R Hardern Garden Design, S3i Stainless Steel Solutions, K&S Nursery, Andrew Collin, Mottershead Paving, Redwood Stone, Greenwood Oak Ltd

A Perfect Match – designed by Harry’s Gold Stars
Built by Harry’s Gold Stars

The Diamond Garden – designed by Russell Watkinson
Built by Russell Watkinson

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Orchestra Gardens at Tatton Flower Show

18 July 2012 | Permalink

science-of-strings-by-brendan-vaughan-and-leon-davis

The brief for the Orchestra Gardens was to create a design that represents a section of an Orchestra.  It is a new category for 2012 and is sponsored by the RHS.  The designers took inspiration from their chosen orchestral section and created designs that show the elegance of strings, the pulsating beat of drums and the swell of brass.

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The garden above is ‘The Science of Strings’, it was awarded a gold medal.  The designers are Brendan Vaughan and Leon Davis, their garden is inspired by the science behind the sound of string instruments.  The main feature is the undulating lawns which represent sound waves.  The steel wires attached to an archway depict how different sounds are made by altering the tension of the string.

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This next garden won Best Orchestra Garden and a gold medal.  Owen Morgan designed ‘To The Beat, it is inspired by the sound of a drum, it’s feeling and intensity.  The circles of planting mirror the waves that radiate from the centre of the pool.

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This elegant garden is called ‘Air on a Green String’; it was designed by Alexandra Froggatt.  It is inspired by string instruments and features box topiary in the shape of a violin’s f-sound hole and part buried violins and cellos.

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List of Medals for Orchestra Gardens 2012

Best Orchestra Garden:
To The Beat – designed by Owen Morgan
Built by Mosaic Garden Design & Landscaping

Gold:
Brass – designed by Alan Gardner
Built by Alan Gardner Design

The Science of the Strings – designed by Brendan Vaughan & Leon Davis
Built by Brendan Vaughan Garden Design

To The Beat – designed by Owen Morgan
Built by Mosaic Garden Design & Landscaping

Silver-Gilt Flora:
Air on a Green String – designed by Alexander Froggatt
Built by Equator Developments

Silver Floral:
The Strings garden – designed by Michael Vinsun
Built by Michael Vinsun Landscape Design

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