Monday, 20 June 2011

Gardeners' World Live 2011 (part one)

 I had a lovely time at Gardeners' World Live at the NEC, Birmingham on Saturday, with my sister, my sister-in-law and a friend I used to work with at school.  We are all keen gardeners and all had a wonderful time, looking at the displays, show gardens and all the retail therapy opportunities.  The garden above was a riot of colour, called "Remember the Dream" and designed by Yvonne Matthews for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The vibrant colours really appealed to me, even though I wouldn't necessarily include all of them in my own garden.  I would probably have painted the obelisks a paler shade or left them natural, but giving them such a bright colour made them prominent.

More beautiful colours.

 This display made me smile - beds and borders indeed!

"The Bodgery" was a wonderfully evocative garden, showing the English woodland and the planting therein.  It was designed by Chris Myers and inspired when he met a Bodger in his local wood.  A Bodger was someone who used a pole lathe (seen here on the left) to create wooden pieces which were then turned into elements for use by the local chairmakers.  The Bodger didn't make a finished chair himself, so gradually, any unfinished job became known as a 'bodged job'.  Unfortunately, this term nowadays means an unfinished job which has been done in a slapdash or wrong way, so is not very complimentary.

 For such a small garden, this really had an air of tranquility and peacefulness, in the middle of a very busy show.

This was more of a concept garden, not really designed to sit in, more to look at.  It was called "Simple Elements" and included Fire, Earth, Air and Water (suggested by the mirrors, grasses and blue mulch).  I wanted to sit on the cube seats as they looked so inviting, but sadly, all we could do was look.
The next installment will follow tomorrow - amazing colours and textures.

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