* 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.
I’m not sure how we’re already mostly through August and how this is the first in my regular series of showing the gardens from this year’s Gardeners’ World Live show since my highlights post. It’s the same every year, though this year does feel slightly busier, perhaps because both of us are no longer working and while our days have some structure, they are much less structured than when we were working full time (obviously). And there’s so much still that we want to do, and go and see and of course everyday life still needs to happen, I just need to get myself more organised to make room for as much as possible in every aspect of our lives, while making sure we don’t wear ourselves out in the process!
Anyway, back to the gardens - this one is one of the showcase gardens, where the show’s blurb promises that we will ‘discover creative and clever design ideas’ which can be adapted for our own home garden.
I think this one caught my eye, not just because of the teddy bear’s picnic, but because at the show I was intent on looking at greenhouses and small sheds in all their guises, and this one has both of those, so it’s an ideal place to start.
The garden designed by Stef Haydon tells ‘the story of many generations, where simple magic moments in backyards and parks have sparked a love for gardening’ - and isn’t that true. I imagine each of us have a happy memory from childhood which when we’re gardening we’re reminded of, for me it could be the trailing lobelia plants tumbling out of small brick wall, or looking in awe at dad’s greenhouse - from the outside of course!
The plants in this garden tell stories of cherished memories, hunting for frog-spawn, making rose perfume (yeap, I think I probably tried that one!) and tasting sun-ripened tomatoes - and doesn’t it just look wonderful?
For my own garden I was keen to explore greenhouses and a small storage ‘thing’ (a thing as I was open to ideas - it’s purpose is to store/hide opened, and not yet opened bags of compost keeping them out of sight, but still secure. And in true goldilocks fashion, the ones in this garden are probably a bit too small for what I had in mind, though I do like the compactness of the greenhouse, but I’m after one I can get into and continue gardening if/when it rains. You’ll hear more on my search for the perfect sized greenhouse and storage I’m sure in future posts!
And one of the best bits about this garden - alongside the calming pebble pond, and the memories I’m sure it has evoked - is that it will be relocated to a Women’s Aid domestic abuse refuge after the show, so it can continue to give and inspire future gardeners.
* 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.
