Chelsea 2008

So the Chelsea Flower Show is upon us once again and the media is full of claims about this being the ‘cutting edge’ of garden design, showing the latest trends and fashions. There are always claims that the show gardens are like the London Fashion week of the gardening world - but let’s remember a couple of things about Chelsea. First of all, it’s not a garden design show - it’s a flower show. That means that the actual design of the gardens is only really considered at the outset, and the judging is done by assessing whether the finished garden meets the designer’s original brief (as well as the quality of construction and planting). The judging panel contains a number of high profile designers so there is clearly some filtering of the schemes for quality and content, but they are certainly not ‘cutting edge’.

The second thing to remember is that the show is organised by the RHS and is a high profile media frenzy. The show gardens all have significant budgets and therefore are sponsored by big names who want the gardens to gain exposure. This means that they must be accessible to the mass market and must reflect the qualities and values of the sponsors and the RHS - we only need to look at the gradual taming of Diarmuid Gavin’s Chelsea gardens to see this effect. This all combines to mean that the designs selected are less like London Fashion Week and more like a designer clothing label launching their latest high street collection.

For the London Fashion Week equivalent of garden design we need to look at events where designers are given free reign to come up with ideas and where funding is provided by the show’s organisers rather than commercial interests. The French Chaumont festival is the classic example, as was the short-lived Westonbirt festival. The good news is that it looks like the Westonbirt festival may be relaunched at a new venue in the near future, giving a chance to show some truly ‘cutting edge’ schemes.

Anyhow, it’s true that there are some common trends at Chelsea this year - we’ll wait to see how many of them filter down into the domestic market.

Lots of still water - much of it overflowing it’s container to create a smooth edge, and much of it using organic black dye to get that great reflective quality. Of course the downside for the domestic market is that open water may be an issue for clients with children, and the perfect flat surface doesn’t look quite so good when it’s covered with a slick of pollen or leaves.

Lots of green planting, using foliage texture and form to add interest rather than relying on colour. This is really not a new trick for planting design as more often than not the flower lasts a fraction of the time that the plant is in leaf, so if the foliage doesn’t work together then the flowers won’t save the scheme.

Green roofs are everywhere - and not just using the old favourites like Sedum’s. Green roof technology is becoming more mainstream and there are now several solutions available on the market, so they no longer require specialists to design and install (apart of course from a structural engineer to make sure the roof can take the load). They are generally low maintenance solutions and can be used for anything from a rabbit hutch to an office block - perhaps this is Chelsea reflecting the current mood rather than dictating it, but any higher profile for green roofs must be a good thing.

As well as the green roof, there is a lot of vertical planting in evidence this year. Unlike green roofs there aren’t yet (m)any commercially available systems to support vertical planting - this is quite a challenge as the system has to be strong enough to support a considerable weight, has to contain sufficient growing medium for the plants and then has to be able to deliver the required amount of water to all of the plants without leaving the ones at the top parched and the ones at the bottom drenched. Perhaps, despite all our misgivings at the top of this post, this shows how Chelsea can drive the market - if increased awareness of vertical planting leads to increased demand for a commercial solution then we may well see more and more of this technique rather than just resorting to the usual solution of planting climbers.

May Roundup

The old ‘project diary’ page on our website served two purposes - part of it was comment on current issues in the world of garden design and part of it was a means of showing the range of work we’re currently involved in. So, keeping to that tradition here’s a review of some of our current projects.

In Rowledge near Farnham we’re working with a client who has a site of around 5 acres, with just under an acre of this designated as a garden. The client owns their own construction company so our approach to the project has been a little different to normal, with some new challenges arising as the project developed. The client is building a new house on the site, which also involves renovating a couple of old barns to include in the living accomodation. The site itself is quite steeply sloping with a stream running through the bottom of the valley and beautiful rural surroundings. Construction of the garden began at the beginning of 2008 but has been held up by the wet weather (the site is on heavy clay), but the main structure of the garden is now nearing completion. Pure Garden Design was recently instructed to proceed with the planting plan for the site, and we hope that some of the planting can be carried out before the summer.

At the opposite end of the scale we’re working on a small contemporary courtyard design for a new build house in Sussex (the case study is on our website). This has been an interesting project as the client was buying one of a pair of houses from a developer. The garden space is only 9m by 5m so the client was keen to get this right, and commissioned Pure Garden Design to develop a scheme. Access to the back garden would be limited once the house was complete so the client asked the property developer to undertake some of the initial construction work - the developer liked the design so much that he then commissioned us to produce a separate scheme for the other house. The clients suspended the work in the garden whilst they were settling in but now we are preparing the planting scheme with the intention that the garden is finished in time for the client’s birthday party this summer.

In Weybridge we are working on the 1/3 acre garden that surrounds a classic early 20th century tile hung house. The garden is taking cues from the era of Jekyll and Lutyens while providing for a modern 21st century lifestyle. The scheme balances formality and structure such as box hedges with flexible space for the family to dine and play, and of course low maintenance planting which adds impact without taking too much looking after. The first phase of this project is nearing completion, with just the bespoke railings and Hornbeam hedge to lift the property’s frontage awaiting completion in May.

We have two projects live in Farnborough - the first of these is a sloping site which is being transformed into a terraced garden with water linking the different levels. The sketch plan has been approved and we’re now well into the process of tendering and selecting a contractor. The second is a renovation of a tired 60’s detached house - the back garden is about 18 metres square and rises by about 2m along it’s length and 1m across the width. Our proposed scheme includes a generous terrace for entertaining (with integrated barbecue and hot tub) as well as a lawn area for the kids to play football etc. The sketch plan is in the final stages of development and construction is expected to follow reasonably quickly as the building works complete.

In Sandhurst we’re working on a small front and rear garden. The back garden slopes up away from the house and a DIY patio from the previous occupier makes no allowance for drainage. The front garden also slopes steeply making it difficult to maintain, and the steps and paths are crumbling and dangerous. The client’s children are also just starting to drive so there is a requirement for additional parking in front of the house. The initial sketch plan has been agreed but we are now working on options to reduce the overall cost of the scheme to enable the client to build both front and rear in a single project.