Of the 4 designs I mentioned yesterday, all four were awarded a huge medal. Gold and “Best Show Garden” to the Daily Telegraph Garden by Ulf Nordfjell and Gold to the Laurent-Perrier Garden by Luciano Giubbilei. Ulf Nordfjell’s garden just pipping the other Golds for “Best Show Garden”. Congratulations, very well-designed gardens!

A huge Silver-Gilt to the Cancer Research UK Garden and very well done to the young designers from the Canary Islands Spa Garden who achieved a Silver, a very well deserved placing.

Congratulations to all participants……I know it’s been hard work and I’m sure you’ll have such a great week during the public opening!

For a full breakdown of all the medals awarded, go to the RHS official website for details. I’ll bring you some further coverage later.

David

Founded in 1804 as The Horticultural Society of London by Sir Joseph Banks and John Wedgewood, its mission was to collect and categorise plants from around the world and to encourage the practice of horticultural science. The template for today’s huge international event however did not start until the late 1820’s. Whichever inauguration date you look at, this event has “pedigree” stamped all over it. With over 200 year’s experience, the RHS has fine-tuned their selection criteria for what makes a medal-winning garden.

Chelsea, like much of our economy in these hard-pushed times has not been spared the depressing Crunch. There are only 13 main show gardens that were successful in attracting sponsorship this year and many of the most notable garden designers will be absent from the show. However, this should not dampen the show’s appeal or degrade the exhibitors’ efforts to secure a much-coveted Gold medal.

Medal day and the first open Public day is Tuesday, 19^th May and for most of the designer’s and exhibitors, tonight will be the most sleepless night yet…..I can testify to this with first-hand knowledge of the procedure. First arrival at Chelsea and before the show opens; the coveted medals will be displayed on each exhibit. For some it will be elation, others disappointment after a year’s worth of time, care and planning will seem worthless for anything less than a Gold medal.

I have not yet seen all the designer gardens taking part this year; however of those I have seen, the following stand out as being particularly stylish, the Laurent-Perrier Garden, the Cancer Research UK Garden, the Daily Telegraph Garden and the Canary Islands Spa Garden. These must be in the running for a Gold. You can click the links above to view their designs; opens in a new window.

Don’t forget to check out the smaller Urban Gardens here and the Courtyard Gardens here. Often, these small gardens prove themselves to be the most innovative. No more than approx 20M² (215ft²), the gardens offer ingenious use of spaces that city dwellers and owners of tight, unpromising plots are often faced with. Often these little show-pieces give insight into clever tricks that can be taken home and modified for your own small awkward garden space.

Although designer numbers appear to be down at Chelsea this year, it’s clear the quality of this year’s successful exhibitors are maintaining the highest standards. Tuesday will be the real acid test!

Happy Mayday!

Yes, I know I’m late with it……for those celebrating Mayday on May 4^th that is. I’ve been justifiably side-tracked again this week. Originally I had planned something completely different for you but I’d had such a pleasant, restful day on Monday that I wanted to share this post with you instead, so I hope you enjoy.

To set the scene: I wanted to take a few hours to myself, to wander and to clear the cobwebs, so I took a trip to London’s Docklands. It’s been a while since I’d been here but I knew there were some great little bars, stores and restaurants lining the side-streets and the riverfront. Full of tourists and cosmopolitan locals, it has such a great vibe. I often find inspiration for all sorts of design stuff when I take a little time for me, and Mayday was no different. I travelled light and packed a compact digital camera …….just in case!

Wandering along the river, admiring the warehouse apartments, the architecture, the boats and enjoying the sound of the gulls and the smells of the kitchens, I came across the following scene.

London Dockland's river scene.

I looked for just a brief moment, and then did a double-take. Anyone guess what made me stop and look a second time? Give it a go for yourself and see what you see. Yes, I know the image is a bit small …….try clicking the image to see a larger version! That any better? Do you see yet? I’m guessing you’re probably still struggling to see what I found so intriguing so I’ll help you out with the next image. Before I show it though I want you to consider this …….when looking for inspiration for your designs, learn to LOOK carefully. I don’t mean just see and casually take in a view, I want you to really pay attention and absorb and look for out-of-the-ordinary scenes, something you wouldn’t expect!

As a designer, I’m always fascinated by the attempts of Man to create his/her own little Eden and the extremes and lengths he/she will go to achieve it…….there’s something quite primitive about it, to create our own little special space and often from the most inhospitable of situations! Around the world, in every climate you will find true works of ingenuity created from sheer determination and often, very often made from absolute need to either tame or control a wilderness.

Eden on water!

So, here you go…….a nice big close-up and the reason I did my double-take. Click on the image to make it larger. Here was a small community of boat-dwellers living, presumably full-time on the mighty Thames. Lacking any obvious private garden space, they had pulled their resources together and utilised obsolete flat-topped and rusting old barges to grow quite beautiful garden spaces, presumably accessible to all the private boat-owners berthed there.

What struck me most was the quality of the plants used. I would have considered the need/want to grow vegetables and salads for their tables yet here were stunning specimen plants that would grace the grandest country estates. What I could see from my vantage point were Ceanothus (Californian Lilac), Clematis, Phormium, Escholzia, Birch, Prunus, Allium, Salvia and Mint. This was as much as I could make out given my distance and sadly this was one time where my compact camera was just not powerful enough to get a real close-up zoom. (Must be a lesson to be learned there). I feel pretty sure they would have been resourceful enough to plant fruit, vegetables and herbs so I feel they were probably planted elsewhere out of sight. Take a look at the other images and let me know what else you can spot.

Flowers, shrubs and herbs.

Specimen trees and mixed planting.

I hung around for maybe half an hour hoping someone would either enter or leave their moorings, but no luck. I desperately wanted a real close look at the plant arrangements. I wanted to ask questions about drainage and logistical stuff like how much soil was used and how on earth was it all transported on board the boats……if transport was by wheelbarrow, it must have been a nightmare for the guys trying to manoeuvre the planks. Gives a new meaning to “walking the plank” I guess.

If anyone reading this knows someone who lives there or if you are one of the lucky ones living afloat, I’d love to know more about how this was all achieved. Please contact me at david@designmyownsecretgarden.com

All in all a very satisfying solution to greening one’s environment…….and a very satisfying walkabout. In conclusion, take a look at your own plot of land, balcony, doorstep or whatever you can potentially call your garden. Assess the surrounding areas and logistics of creating that garden and above all, let your imagination take you to a place that someday soon you will be able to re-create.

Good luck with your ideas, till next time.

David

OK, I’ve finally got round to getting some content up here for you. Sorry it’s taken a while, but sometimes life just catches up with you!

Many of you have already written to me requesting information on what I’ll be providing on this website. For those of you who’ve patiently been waiting…..many, many thanks for holding on and I promise, it will be worth it……..but who am I and what are my credentials? Well, I’ve created a separate page for you that gives a more Curriculum Vitae-type description.

In a nutshell however, my name is David MacQueen and I’ve been a Garden and Landscape Designer since 1993. I’m an artist, designer, keen photographer and now thanks to this blog, a writer too! As a designer, I greatly enjoy a challenge and some of my most satisfying designs have been created from the most challenging of “problems”. My design philosophy comes from a strong architectural background…….often evident through creative soft and structural planting details.

What do you hope to gain by coming to this website? Hopefully, you’ll gain the tools to go out and design your own private space with confidence, imagination and style. For many the very concept of garden design is a mystery only known to those who’ve studied the art for many years. There’s no denying it IS an incredibly concentrated subject and the more one looks into it, the more related subjects one can explore.

I want to show that it is possible, with a good understanding and background knowledge in the core subjects, to design and create your own secret garden for yourselves. I make no assumptions to your climate or your soil conditions, so you could be reading this from anywhere in the world and apply simple techniques to achieve your desired effect in your own garden.

I want to encourage your comments, your thoughts and your interaction with myself and the members of this site. From time to time, I’d like to post some interesting little anecdotes to problems, reader’s personal garden stories and photos (with your permission of course).

All in all, I’d like this website to help YOU create your own garden and landscape space that means the world to you.

Till next time,

David

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