This might not be the post for a chillier day, but never mind, we can just imagine the sunshine can’t we? In fact when I saw this garden at Gardeners’ World Live in Birmingham earlier this year it wasn’t such a nice day either. But that didn’t stop me admiring the planting and pulling my cardy just a little bit tighter after the thought of being on the beach on a cooler day.
There’s nothing wrong with being on a beach on a chilly day, it can be just as nice to have the place more to yourself just as long as you’re dressed correctly. A bit like anything really, having the right clothes - or feeling that you do - makes a lot of things feel better.
It is the planting in this garden that I’m a fan of and the detail which really does give the feeling of being close to the beach. The wooden fence, the grasses swaying in the wind and the cool colour palette.
While the mermaid was billed as the star of the show, I wasn’t that taken by her, and personally I think the space would have worked just as well without her. I’m not much of a mermaid person (you might have already guessed that) but the rest of the space is calming and beautiful.
Even the treasure chest was fine by me, its planting helped continue the theme in what could have been an empty space. And those pebbles, with the chive-like flowers.
I was a fan of the wooden planks used as a path - a great way to add texture, especially surrounded by the pebbles. And saving walking too far on the pebbles too, which is always hard work isn’t it?
But overall what makes this garden work for me is the detailed and coordinated colours of the planting, from the purple sage, the chive-like flowers, the astrantias, grasses and sea holly. It just works, doesn’t it?