Only five weeks to go!

After a delightful week away in the Lakes I sat down back at my desk and counted the weeks to the start of the build at Tatton – only five! The butterflies kick in every time I think about it. The show actually doesn’t open to the public until Thursday 25^th July but the key date for Matt the landscaper is Sunday 7^th July, when he can go on site and set out the garden  - basically, he will draw it all out – no digging or building can start until the Monday.

Matt and I are meeting up at Tatton next Friday with Kris Hulewicz, the Show Manager, to take a look at the position of our show garden. We’re hoping for a relatively flat area so that we don’t have to try and compensate for too much of a slope. A slope wouldn’t be very conducive for our lovely reflective pool! Matt and I will also get a chance to discuss timings. I have to ensure that the plants are delivered on the right day, just as the build is coming to an end and the team are ready to plant up. With my first small show garden it took as long to plant up the garden as it did to build! All timings are absolutely critical when you’re working to such a restricted schedule.

I haven’t chosen my Pinus mugo shrubs yet so I’ve also paid a quick visit to Ladybrook to check out their stock. Four little beauties now have my name of them and will be kept to one side for their big day. This good weather is fantastic news for all of the perennials that have had such a slow start this year. The nursery is basking in wonderful sunshine - long may it last!

We Three Trees

I’ve been having sleepless nights over my choice for the three trees in the garden. When the inspiration for the planting first came to me I envisaged pine trees (either Pinus sysvestris or Pinus nigra), liking their evergreen, solid yet textured form as contrast with the swishy grasses beneath. For some reason I bottled out as I thought it was a rather unusual choice, and wrote in my design brief for the planting plan submission to the RHS that they would be multi-stemmed Prunus serrula. These are beautiful trees with gorgeous colourful bark and an open structure and probably the safer option.

I put in my request to the nursery for three of these but they came back to me to say that they were difficult to get hold of, so gave me the option of Cercidiphyllum japonicum. These are also elegant, multi-stemmed trees with the prettiest, almost heart shaped leaves which turn yellow, orange and pink in autumn when they smell of burnt sugar. I even went as far as to visit the nursery and choose the best three specimens that they had on site.

But I still had a niggle at the back of my mind that what I wanted, what I really, really wanted, was the Pinus, with a clean strong stem to about 1100mm so that the head of each tree could sit proudly above the grasses. Whilst procrastinating I found myself on my way back from Arley Hall where I passed a field full of exactly what I had in mind and promptly stopped the car to take a photograph. They were obviously being commercially grown en masse, all sitting in their special air pots and probably too large for my requirements. But that was it, I wasn’t going to have the Cercidiphyllum, I was going to trust my instincts and find to what I really wanted. 

'So back to Ladybrook and I now have my name against three smart looking Pinus nigra which are now awaiting their debut at Tatton in July!'

A meeting with the team at Alzheimer's Society

There’s a real buzz about my second meeting at Alzheimer’s Society as we’re now all very excited that our garden has been given approval by the RHS and we can get down to planning the detail!

We discuss how logistics will work during the show open days, the main thing being to have enough people to staff the garden to chat to the public and hand out leaflets. There appear to be plenty of volunteers so it’s now a case of checking how many tickets we’ll be given and then dividing the time between everyone. Volunteers could be standing around for a long time in either blazing sunshine (it has been known!) or tropical like downpours or anything in between! Everyone will get a chance to look round the show too, so it won’t just be hard work!

The other major item on the agenda is how to maximise press coverage throughout the show, including press day on Wednesday 24^th July when the medals are dished and Ladies Day on the Friday. Various ideas to create interest around the garden are discussed, one being to use the theme of a garden party and maybe having everyone wearing fancy flowery hats on Ladies Day. Visual themes work well for the visual press! The Forget Me Not flower is a symbol of Alzheimer’s Society and someone is going to check out a seed supplier so that packets can be handed out on another day.

Publicising the efforts everyone is making in the lead up to the show is another important PR opportunity – after all the primary aim is to raise awareness of the good work of Alzheimer’s Society so every opportunity must be exploited.  This very blog can also be put to use. Laura, the PR Manager for Alzheimer’s Society nationally, is given the task of taking all the ideas we discuss to create a promotional strategy to ensure that all avenues are exploited to the full!!

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!

An exciting proposition

Have you ever been to Tatton? 

When I say Tatton I’m actually referring to one of the most exciting events (in my opinion!) in the Tatton Park calendar; the Royal Horticultural Society’s only flower show in the North of England, held every July. If you’ve been, I’m sure one of the highlights has been the wonderfully inspirational show gardens. When you’ve been gently (or even harshly) critiquing these masterpieces of horticultural excellence and divine design, have you ever stopped to wonder what goes into making them, what actually happens behind the scenes? 

Join me in this process to get a taste of the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park from behind the scenes, the highs and the lows, via the relief felt when the garden is finally built and there’s no time left to fuss and faff, and after the show is finally closed to the public and all that hard work is taken apart and loaded back onto the truck.

Last year I was approached by a chap (named Steven) who was looking for a designer to help with a submission for a garden for the Tatton Flower Show in 2013.  Steven turned out to represent Alzheimer’s Society, a most worthy charity I think you’d agree. The show garden would be sponsored on behalf of Alzheimer’s Society as part of their campaign to raise the level of their work as the UK’s leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers. Luckily for him (and for me) I’m an experienced show garden designer.  For my one and only show garden (so far!) in 2008 at Tatton I was awarded a rather satisfying Silver Gilt medal. I was thrilled to be given a second opportunity to create another show garden and of course, said yes.