2006-07-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

I visited the Chelsea flower Show in May. It is the third time I have been and I always get a buzz out of walking through those gates into what is, arguably, the best garden show in the world! This year was no exception and I still got that feeling of excitement.

But I have set out in these blogs to discuss garden design and it's place in our day to day lives. What did I think of the 'design' at Chelsea this year? It really was pretty much the same as it had been for my last three visits.

But within these predictable show gardens there were elements of brilliance and innovation.
There were two gardens which I thought stood out with some great design features; The Daily Telegraph Garden by designer Tom Stuart-Smith and Cleve West's design for Saga Insurance.

Both had a strong sense of purpose and had obviously been conceived with one clear image. The planting in Tom Stuart-Smith's garden was fantastic and I particularly liked the Viburnum where the canopy of the shrub had been raised to allow planting underneath of Buxus so that the stem seemed to rise out of a cloud of green.

Cleve West's garden was coherent and hung together well and was in no way over designed and fussy which can often be the case in show gardens. The designers feeling they must cram more and more in. (My only criticism of the garden was the staff handing out literature constantly parading through the center of the garden made it impossible to take a decent photograph!).

The rest the show gardens were of the same high standard of execution as always and it is that attention to detail which makes the Chelsea Flower Show the great experience it is.

I have been teaching at Pershore College today a group of mature horticulture students who are doing a short 3 week module in design. They have asked for this module to be added to their National certificate of Horticulture course because they felt that it was an important feature of gardening. Hooray! At last it is design is becoming integrated into horticultural courses and seen to be important. They are scared of the concept of 'design' and see it as some kind of specialist area which they have no access to. My job as a design lecturer is to peel away this mystic veil which has been placed over design and make them realize that it is accessible to all. Anyone can think carefully about how to lay out an outdoor space so that it is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

I am visiting Hampton Court Flower Show on Thursday, one of my favorite shows as it has a stunning setting and is itself more accessible and less high brow than Chelsea. I look forward to posting my feelings on the show soon.

Cat Smith

2006-05-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am a part time garden design lecturer at Pershore College of Horticulture in Worcestershire. I also run my own design practice called The Gardensmith. (www.thegardensmith.co.uk)

My past has always been in design. I studied fine art at The University of the Witswatersrand in Johannesburg in South Africa. When I returned to England my husband and I ran our own business giftware business where I designed jewellery and corporate giftware for the big retailers.

After two children I re-trained in Garden Design at Pershore College for two years and then continues on to take the RHS advanced certificate in Horticulture. I have always loved gardening so it made sense to combine it with my art training. I recently found out that my grandad was a head gardener at a big house many years ago so it must run in the blood!

I have just spent the day at Malvern Spring Show hoping to find some innovative designs! Unfortunately, the show gardens were the same old story!

Why must we constantly re-work old style from history in quaint pastiches? Why can we not move on to new styles and leave the past behind? Why must I live in a modern house with Victorian inspired barge boards and ridge tiles? Why does my local town have imitation Victorian lamp posts and litter bins?

We need to develop a new style of municipal design for the future. What are we going to remember this era for? Diarmud Gavin is slated for his 'concrete' structures in his gardens or his colourful balls on sticks but at least he is opening debate about what is good and bad in design.

Malvern Spring show today was full of wrought iron and 'olde worlde' chairs, tables and sculpture. The show gardens were either souless or gothic follies. All the garden sheds looked as though Goldilocks was about the emerge through the doors!

Over the following blogs I will look at today's garden design and how it is developing in the 21st century. I will be visiting Chelsea, Hampton Court and Tatton Flower show this summer. Hopefully there will be something new and exciting. I cannot bring myself to go the Gardeners World Live show. It has become a giant shopping mall selling nothing but gardening gloves, solar lights (which give out a sad pale blue light which is completely useless) and garden sheds that look as though Godilocks will emerge from them at any time.

If you would like to know more about my business then please visit www.thegardensmith.co.uk