| Ellerslie - The Exhibition Gardens |
This is the part everyone comes for - the exhibition gardens. The chance to see perfection and be inspired by gardeners and designers with as many takes on what a garden should be as there are plants to put in them. |
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The master gardener Mr Koji Nonmiay's Zen Garden was opposite our stall and we watched a small army of Japanese gardeners comb each leaf and pebble in the build up to the opening night. Can you imagine my horror when I went to take a closer look before the gates opened and my sunhat flew off onto the middle of the pebbles! I dont' think anyone saw. |
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We thought this would be one of our favourite gardens. "Peace by Piece" was a styley garden with a great philosophy behind it ...
The blurb said "that everything starts with a thought, and the more positive our thinking, the better we feel about ourselves and the world. Thoughts and ideas lead to actions, and positive actions that lead to a more sustainable planet and a peaceful global community are what we need." Liking it already.
The designer asked people "What can we do to make the world a better place?" and he wrote the answers on each of the 1600 wine bottles in the garden.
In we wade - wanting to read these inspiring messages on the bottles ... but no we're not allowed - only the designer is allowed on the gravel. Perhaps we caught him on a not so inspired day .. but hey the wine racks are for sale after the show - contact Carl Pickens the designer.
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One of our favourite gardens was by Incredible Edibles. It looked designery but was all completely edible. Watercress water features, lemongrass beds, strawberry pergolas and these spooky wire people that moved places each day.
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And the most talked about, written about and by far largest exhibition garden at the show - "An Englishman's Retreat" by English designer Chris Beardshaw. Lovely location by the lake and the back half of the garden with the wildflowers was beautiful.
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One of the more unusual gardens was Dan Rutherfords Antarctic Ice Garden which Lisa rather uncharitably said looked like her freezer defrosting. However after meeting Dan, hearing about the garden and how he encouraged people to touch it we award him a Highly Commended (and his Mum's lovely)
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This garden was amazing. It was trying to make a statement about the waste shows like this create. It consisted of a deck made out of an opened up shipping container and a couple of large industrial rubbish skips turned into reed filtered swimming pools.
Pity the judges didn't agree - we think this one deserved Gold. |
Some of the best gardens were in the Young Designers category with this one being a particular favourite of ours - love the tyre slide.
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We did see quite a bit of designer disease around - main symptom being not wanting to move too far from your award boards. This garden with it's chimney top revolving conifers didn't do it for us. |
And last but not least - our favourite of all gardens the Good Gardeners Trust Sustainable Garden. This group of gardeners - average age 70 - pulled out all the stops and put together the best garden in the show as far as we're concerned.
They rostered themselves on the whole show to talk to folks - nothing was too much trouble right down to finding out for me that the person who grew that lovely purple and green sorrel was Patience from such and such garden club and if I wrote to them they'd get her to send me some seeds - now these guys were gardeners, not designers or celebrities - just gardeners - trying to get across the benefits of sustainable gardening to anyone who would listen. We give you our Gold Medal, Supreme Award, Best in Show. Here's some detailed photo's of it.
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Other gardens worth a mention but hard to photograph were Te Waipounamu garden which depicted the food and medicinal plant sources that Maori used on their traverses from coast to coast in the South Island and A Taonga medicinal garden.
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