A Brace of Embraces

* I was invited to the press preview of Gardeners’ World Live and provided with a pair of tickets to visit the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

The Urban Gardens were a new feature at the 2024 show. They were both designed by Cherry Carmen but the gardens were brought to life by two teams of landscapers both vying to win the competition hosted by World Skills UK. Each garden was designed to embrace issues related to climate change - one focussed on Shady & Wet, and yeap you’ve guessed it, the other on Sunny & Dry. But which would win out?

Determined to have its own say, the weather wreaked havoc with both of the garden signs - the wind managed to rip the board from the wood for the Shady & Wet sign - ironic much? And both signs ended up laying down alongside its garden - you couldn’t make it up could you?

Shady & Wet

This garden was landscaped by Anna Mcloughlin and Ceri Furber and showcases a waterlogged or boggy garden. It’s a north-facing garden so doesn’t get the sun to dry it out, and so the planting demonstrates how to work with your garden’s reality and how by using correct techniques and plant choices you can still achieve something quite special.

I liked the planting in the Shady & Wet garden and I think that each of us can do more to work with what our garden gives us - just because we like a plant, it doesn’t mean it will thrive in the space we have - and we have to learn and respect that. In our previous garden we rarely had any bedding plants, save for a few around the patio, as there just wasn’t the light they needed given the large shrubs and trees we had. It’s something we came to accept, and obviously saved a lot of work trying to force things to work where they really weren’t happy.

Sunny & Dry

The landscapers for this garden were Aimee Copland and Jacob Mercer, and as you’d expect from its name this garden is south-facing and so becomes very hot in summer. Once again the planting and design has been adapted to work with, rather than fight against, the garden’s conditions.

This garden has a lot going for it and the plants appealed to both MOH and I. In fact this was MOH’s favourite garden in the show, which kind of surprised me and kind of didn’t. He likes strong sculptural plants - and has his eye on a banana plant, which while I’d be happy to have in the garden, so far I’ve resisted as I don’t think we’re quite ready to care for it, or have the supporting plants and infrastructure around it which I think it will need (but that’s a whole other post!)

I do think that there is something to learn from the dry gardens that we’ve seen, both here in this garden and previously at the show and in other gardens, such as the RHS Hyde Hall - and I think that is definitely something we’ll be incorporating into our future garden. I think more and more of us will do that too especially as the climate continues to change.

Oh, and I almost forgot - the Sunny & Dry garden was awarded a gold medal, so I guess that garden won, and I’m not disappointed by that.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was just as good as I expected! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to the show - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

A plot among the chickens

* I was invited to the press preview of Gardeners’ World Live and provided with a pair of tickets to visit the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

At first glance this garden, like all good gardens, doesn’t reveal its secrets straight off, the name gives a clue as does the cockerel weather vane on the arched entrance, but when you look more closely you notice that the wire structure at the front of the garden is actually a chicken run. The chickens have space in the mini barn in the rear left hand corner and a run which enables them to explore an L shape section of the garden, with food and plants to entice them along.

The garden, designed by Ben Shutler, is based on his own allotment and garden and demonstrates how it is possible to keep chickens and grow beautiful flowers alongside edibles in a small space all the while keeping sustainability front of mind. Ben says that chickens are fantastic animals that not only provide eggs, but their waste can be used to create chicken manure compost to add back into the garden. He also loves to share his garden with wild birds too, as the sounds from them and the chickens provide great stress relief and help boost his mental health.

I love the planting in this garden and how it mixes flowers and edibles - that’s definitely something I want to do, but I’m afraid there won’t be any chickens in our garden, while I’m sure they’re great to have I suspect they are also more work than I would want to take on, and anyway, I’ve got the eggs from my local farmer just up the road which is a much better option for me!

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was just as good as I expected! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to the show - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

My favourite garden and awarded the Best Show Garden, the Eco Oasis Garden

* I was invited to the press preview of Gardeners’ World Live and provided with a pair of tickets to visit the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

As we wandered amongst the gardens I had an early clear favourite, and it was this garden designed by Dan Hartley. The corten steel drew me in, and the lush planting kept my eyes busy while looking at the planting at multiple heights and the small details like the insect hotel (bottom left in the first photo below), and the tin watering can (to the left of the seats in the second photo) and the bottle of rose temptingly placed on the table in the seating area!

But it was more than that, it was the feeling of calm as I admired the garden and it’s hard to explain. It wasn’t as intense a feeling as when we first descended into Hunte’s gardens in Barbados but it was along the same lines - and for any garden to give you ‘all the feels’ well, it has to be good doesn’t it?

This garden was inspired by the Gardener’s World Live theme of ‘The Good Life’ and aims to combine eco-friendly elements, aesthetic appeal and mindful living. The show notes say that ‘organic abundance is represented by vibrant, lush planting’ and that the garden invites people to experience the beauty of a balanced and environmentally conscious outdoor space. The garden is designed to be maintained with organic gardening principles and integrates simple water conservation and aims to enhance the natural ecosystem, which all in turn allows people to create their own ‘good life’.

And so I was pleased to see my favourite garden at the show awarded the Best Show Garden - of course, I had no say in it whatsoever, but it clearly appealed to many more people than just me.

Now wouldn’t it be nice to crack open that bottle of rose? Well, once it’s been on ice anyway!

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was just as good as I expected! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to the show - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.