Taking Inspiration From Show Gardens
Show gardens are a beautiful and creative way for garden designers and landscapers to collaborate and show consumers just what can be achieved with great design, quality build and the pushing of boundaries.
Image from Mike Long Garden Design and Kebur Landscapes - APL A Place to Meet Again. Hampton Court 2021
We’re told that the British are a nation of gardeners and that’s very true. The English Summer time is punctuated by events such as RHS Chelsea Garden Show, the RHS Hampton Court flower show as well as lots of regional events where show gardens are the main attraction. But what are show gardens for? And what we learn from them?
How Flower Shows and Gardening Shows Began
200 or so years ago, wealthy garden enthusiasts would sponsor plant hunters. These people would travel all around the world and bring back exciting new species the likes of which had never been seen in this country. Remember - these were the days before TV, colour magazines and the World Wide Web. The Victorians, in particular, took enormous scientific interest in cataloguing, propagating and collecting these exotic plants.
As time went on, seeds and cuttings would be released to professional growers so that they could not only propagate the plants for sale to members of the public, but also breed new variants of the species.
For the privileged few who were lucky enough to obtain some of these plants. It was a matter of great social pride to be able to show their friends and neighbours the latest addition to their gardens.
Of course, the plant producers of yore, didn’t have the same advantages as modern growers when it came to marketing their plants. If people had the means to travel, they could visit their nurseries. Otherwise, they could learn about growers via word of mouth or newspaper adverts and buy through mail order. But then, some bright spark - we don’t know who - came up with the idea of turning plant sales into a form of entertainment.
Image from Landform Consultants Ltd - Psalm 23 Garden Chelsea 2021
Flower Shows As Social Events
A group of local nursery owners, would come together to create a kind of trade show. There, they could showcase their plants in real life, with colours, scents and all. Which, of course, was far better than a black and white catalogue. Show visitors would be treated to a fabulous day out, local people could show off their own gardening skills with flower and veg competitions, and a grand day would be had by all. If you’ve ever visited the Sandringham Flower Show in Norfolk, you will have had a taste of the type of event we’re talking about. https://www.sandringhamflowershow.org.uk/about-the-show/
Showing plants ‘in situ’ in a garden type situation became one way of demonstrating not only the skill of the horticulturist, but also the talent and creativity of garden designers. Today, show gardens are the ultimate way of showcasing just what a garden designer/landscaper combo can do given a free rein and an unlimited budget.
Image from Stewarts Landscape Construction Ltd - The Perennial Garden With Love. Chelsea 2022
Gardens To Showcase Products And Offer Inspiration
As transport has developed so that people (and plants!) can travel further and faster, the local flower shows have developed into amazing events such as Gardeners World Live and RHS Tatton Park. Events where anyone can come along to seek inspiration and pick up a bargain. They are widely reported on via the TV, the internet and magazines which means that even if you can’t make it to a show, you can still marvel at the beauty of the plants and the skill of the garden designers and landscapers involved.
Show gardens are a beautiful and creative way for garden designers, landscapers, plant producers, stone suppliers and all of those other manufacturers and retailers of wonderful outdoor items, to collaborate and show consumers just what can be achieved with their products and services.
Image from Garden Club London - Jon King Brain Tumour Garden. Hampton Court 2022
Its Not All That It Seems!
Just as a new outfit will not necessarily make you look like a shop mannequin - you cannot expect to exactly replicate a show garden on your own plot. Show gardens are for inspiration and most of them, are in fact, temporary.
The people designing and building show gardens are not constrained by any if the issues found in a ‘normal’ garden. Things like dodgy drainage, difficult slopes, odd shaped plots, tricky access, nosy neighbours, traffic noise or build budgets. These gardens are designed to look fantastic for three weeks and then be dismantled.
If you are planning a garden makeover for your own plot, the landscaping will be permanent, it will need to solve any problems you might have with the space and it will need to be easy for you to maintain. What you need is a garden that looks and feels like a show garden but also suits your lifestyle, gardening abilities, budget and your property.
Image from Conquest Creative Spaces - The Blue Diamond Forge. Chelsea 2021
Creating Your Own Version Of A Show Standard Garden
No matter how different they may look, most show gardens have two things in common. They are beautifully designed and skilfully built. Those are the two things that you CAN reproduce in your own garden, by hiring the right professional help.
Garden designers and landscapers who are members of the Association of Professional Landscapers all work to very high standards indeed. In fact many of them do design and build award winning gardens. You don’t need to have an enormous space in order to have a ‘designer garden’. Neither do you need to be an expert gardener yourself. You just need to be able to explain how you want to use your garden, which materials appeal to you and what your build budget is.
Our advice is to enjoy the show gardens, photograph the elements you like, write down the name of the plants and products that take your fancy and pass all of that information onto a professional garden designer who can help you to adapt the look to suit your budget and lifestyle.
Looking for inspiration? Click here to view some of the medal winning gardens created by APL members.
https://www.landscaper.org.uk/apl-shows
Take the first steps to planning your new garden. https://www.landscaper.org.uk/consumer-information/first-steps-to-planning-your-new-garden
Image from Frogheath Landscapes - Turfed Out. Hampton Court 2022
