The sun baked grounds of Hampton Court Palace were turned into a fabulous extravaganza of colour and vibrancy as the RHS took over the grounds, became the ring master, and put on The Greatest Flower Show in the world.
It was possibly the driest and hottest build to a show that has been known but the talented designers, contractors and exhibitors all worked incredibly hard, with great enthusiasm, to ensure the show was ready for its performance when the gates opened and the show went on stage to the world, performing its magic. It was a fabulous show with many truly wonderful gardens and exhibits.
Contryfile celebrated its 30th anniversary in style with a fantastic garden designed by Ann-Marie Powell visiting all four corners of the Uk. There were several talented young designers creating beautiful gardens alongside their talented and hardworking landscapers and some beautiful exhibits inside the flower marquee with many local nurseries representing the south west to be proud of.
The Countryfile Garden
The trend and ‘must have’ for the garden this year include an outdoor drinks bar and a fabulous stylish entertaining space. Water featured heavily and ways to harvest and save it and the natural, chemical free swimming pools and ponds were ever popular.
The RHS put on many features and there were several ‘grow your own’ style gardens around the site encouraging visitors, with plenty of ideas, to take home and grow in their own gardens no matter how large or small to include a fabulous community garden by Jon Wheatly, from Chew Magna.
RHS Tatton Park Flower Show is now about to open its doors as the last of the shows and as they draw to an end for this year we can all reflect on the great inspiration and enthusiasm the shows have given us, full of talented designers and landscapers, great plantsman and horticulturalists all giving us little pockets of magic we can use for our own gardens.
The next few months is a perfect time to consider what you want from your own garden, use the shows as inspiration and look at how you can improve yours to ensure you get the most out of your space, consider the changes we can all make to move with the changes in weather, how we can harvest our rainwater in the wet periods to use in the garden in these very dry and hot periods, how we can plant to adapt to the arid conditions we are experiencing more and more and how we can encourage and help the wildlife in our gardens. These are just a few of the considerations we should be thinking about for the future of our gardens.
The summer and autumn months are a time for redesign and planning in our gardens ready for work to start in the early spring. Your garden is really important to your home, it is an extension of your living space, it will effect your way of living and even your personal wellbeing.
A garden should be your sanctuary and a place that makes you feel happy from the inside out that is functional but also beautiful. A good garden design will stimulate your senses and create emotional responses like a great piece of music can in its rhythm, pace and structure. It does this through good design, choice of materials and most of all planting.
A good qualified garden designer can help you achieve the best from your space and If a garden has been designed to take into account your needs and wishes, consideration given to the best possible design for the space available whilst inspiring you, connecting you to the surrounding landscape and nodding to the architecture local to you, it will enhance your life.
