Spoilt for choice

“Soft pastels conjure up a dreamy colour mix,

 interspersed with occasional spots of dark or bright colour for contrast.”

Last week I visited Ladybrook Nursery to discuss my choices and the likelihood of them actually being in flower for the last week in July. Unfortunately some of them are ruled out due to past experiences; one season’s worth of growth may not be sufficient time for them to be tall enough for the show. Its not like choosing plants for your own garden, when it doesn’t matter when they come in to flower, or don’t! I have to make decisions now that could impact on the standard of medal that the garden could be awarded. Can you imagine if no plants flower in time? That thought gives me butterflies!

Between us we settle on a short list of plants.

This includes the pastel shades of Achillea ‘Lilac Beauty’, Achillea ‘Salmon Beauty’ and Linaria purpuria Canon J Went and for contrast, the dark purple of Scabiosa atropurpurea ‘ Black Knight’. I have left enough of the allocated plant budget to cover last minute purchases if I need to just before the show. I think I have everything covered, fingers crossed!

I now have to decide on exact quantities so am back at the office contemplating my options. I’ve erred on the side of caution and am going to order 70 to 80% of the perennials that I need, leaving 20% to be bought in a mad panic right at the last moment, choosing any plants that are flowering (in the correct colours!) in those last weeks of July. I will now confirm my order so that the nursery can set all the plants to once side and then its over to me to visit them regularly basis over the next eleven weeks to stake, deadhead and weed! I’ll enjoy getting my hands dirty!

Dreamy planting and cool paving

Now that the structure of the garden is decided, what about the planting? I envisage pale, smooth paving for a contemporary look; with exuberant planting full of texture and movement.

Grasses have inspired the planting in the show garden, for their fabulous texture and movement, and their almost year round interest. I want to plant the grasses en masse with ribbons of tall perennials woven through, their pretty flower heads peeping above, giving the impression of a flowing sea of colour and texture.

David and Pauline at Wildly Rural, a fabulous specialist grass nursery in Cumbria, have agreed to supply the grasses. They’re not new to the particular demands of a show garden so I’m confident that the plants they supply will do us proud. The next step is to pin down my plant list so they can set aside just the right number and varieties I want (possibly up to 200 plants). They’ll be lovingly tended over the next several months and then primped and primed to make sure they are at their very best just in time for the show.

I’m definitely worried about the perennials, what with the unreliable weather we’ve had over the past few years, you never know which plants will be in flower and looking their best just in time for the judges. Ladybrook Nursery, in Bramhall, Cheshire, are another Tatton regular, and are supplying the shrubs, trees and perennials and I’m in the process of drawing up my shortlist for them. All plants will be set aside in a section of the nursery devoted to the Tatton show plants, and then its over to me to keep a regular eye on them, paying regular visits to deadhead, stake, feed and generally protect with my life! There’s no turning up the week before the show hoping that everything’s going to be OK.  There’s a big commitment to ensure the plants are in tip top condition for their big day!  

From blank paper to finished design

The inspiration

The theme for the garden is inspired by the title of the awareness campaign run by Alzheimer’s Society entitled ‘Remember to Reflect.’

Designed as a space for quiet reflection; somewhere to reminisce and seek inspiration and pleasure in the simple joys of nature. Carers of people with dementia like to carry on doing things together as a couple for as long as possible as the illness progresses; this garden gives an ideal social activity that can be enjoyed together.

A design emerges

So I have the inspiration, but what will the garden actually look like? To start things off I draw a square 9x9m in size (to scale, not full size, of course!) and break down the resulting ‘garden’ into one metre squares to form a grid. I designed a garden last year for a client that was a series of overlapping squares and by applying this technique the geometry of the garden slowly emerges.

‘The overlapping squares divide the space into three distinct areas of paving, water and planting'

The seating area is the largest ‘square’ of paving, around which an L-shaped raised bed will be built. Its often hard to successfully photograph a show garden as there are lots of distractions in the background. I’ve tried to reduce this problem by building up the raised bed at the back into full height walls to screen and frame the garden.

To get to the seating area you cross over the reflective pool via a series of large stepping stones. And finally, the resulting voids between paving and water become the spaces for the third and most important element of the garden; the planting. Planted at waist height in the raised bed, the plants will create a sense of enclosure around the seating area, then at ground level to all other sides. Views into the garden will be through and over the planting.

‘Overall the garden is split approximately one third planting, one third water and one third paving.’

Go Large!

Choosing my landscaper was an easy task – earlier in 2012 in a conversation with Matt, who owns Greenbelt Landscapes, he mentioned how they’d love to build a show garden at Tatton. He was therefore my first choice, as I’d know he’d pull out all the stops to get as good a medal as he possibly could! Matt and his team have a great track record winning medals at shows, not just Golds but Large Golds, at both Southport Flower Shows and Holker Hall Garden Festivals (check out the photos). And it’s not only medals they’ve won, but a few extra accolades such as Best Newcomer, Best in Show, and Peoples Choice Award. I hope my design can live up to their standards!

Matt and Belinda of Greenbelt Landscapes

Greenbelt Landscapes won Large Gold ay Holker Hall Garden Festival 2012                          

With a limited budget, we wanted to ensure the garden makes the greatest impact possible by being as large as we can afford. I believe bigger IS better when it comes to a show garden!! Especially for the impact it will have for Alzheimer’s Society and their potential publicity.

The choice is between what the RHS call ‘Back to Back’ gardens, which are 7x5m this year, or the officially named ‘Show Garden’s, which can be any size up from 8 x 8m. The last garden I created was a Back to Back so I’m really keen to go large this time, giving greater scope in terms of design.

Matt has been able to beg, borrow and steal (well, at least beg!) some stunning Purbeck Sands paving from Natural Paving who have been kind enough to donate this for free. What a great start.

And with the judicious use of water in the garden (a very low cost element) our submission is based on a show garden measuring 9m x 9m, a decent size to create what will hopefully be a stunning garden. This allows us to invest most of the budget in the plants, the real stars of the garden.