Surrey Homes | SH43 | May 2018 | Restoration & New Build supplement inside

Garden
More show gardens from
the Chelsea Flower Show.
Stealing some
Chelsea Gold
We need first to digest and
then translate those new
ideas, turn them, as a fork
turns compost, into practical
solutions for our more down
to earth and domestic spaces.
Show gardens are, well,
for show, and won’t always
include a space for the bins; they often have peculiar paths
that go nowhere, are too narrow, or go around in circles.
Paths in show gardens lead on and off the garden onto
bigger paths and walkways – and in our gardens that is usually
where the fence or garden boundary would be. It also pays
not to be too fashionable. Chelsea designers have the luxury
of a new makeover each year, we are stuck with our gardens
for a lot longer than that; huge pink walls, mad rockeries and
steel water features might not be in vogue for long. Like a
classic staple wardrobe (where you can update the accessories)
it is often better to stick to some tried and tested ideas.
Features and focal points
All gardens need focal points; and while choosing
garden features is a matter of taste, it does pay to look
at your surroundings, their scale as well as their style.
Focal points can easily tip into the realms of folly. A
huge silver ball or corner of a ruined abbey might set
off a Chelsea garden, but can look out of kilter in a
domestic garden, positively monastery-ous in fact.
Water features
These can be a sparkling addition to the garden, bringing
refreshing movement, sound and life. But, as with focal
points, style, scale and positioning are key here. It is also vital
to keep them clean and functioning. They don’t have time
to get clogged with algae and grunge at a flower show, but
it’s surprising how quickly a water feature can turn into a
forlorn relic, becoming dry, silent and shamefully derelict.
The Plants
For most of us, plants are the main attraction at
Chelsea, but you can’t buy them directly from the show,
at least not until the final hour, when they are sold
off in a frenetic bun fight that sees normally demure
and well-behaved ladies forgetting their manners and
scrambling for bargains like seagulls behind a trawler.
If you do visit on the last day with the intention
of buying plants, be as prepared as you would be
for the first day of the sales. Pay with cash and have
some kind of trolley to take your haul home in.
The Floral Pavilion
Plant breeders, nursery owners and their plants are found
in the big tented Floral Pavilion that sits at the heart –
figuratively and literally – of the show. Gold medals
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