While Kazuyuki Ishihara for his garden Satoyama Life won the best in show of the Artisan gardens I have to admit to being less enthusiastic. Don’t misunderstand me, it was beautiful. Perfectly designed and impeccably planted but this like the Roger Platt garden I discussed yesterday was almost identical to other gardens he has created in former years.
Perhaps I am being unrealistic and certainly I’m not someone who likes change for change’s sake, but surely if the RHS can’t persuade designers to be more original then they need to change the brief and be more critical of the designs when they are submitted and not just accept them because the designer is well respected.
My favourite in the Artisan category was UN GARREG – one stone by Welsh designers Harry and David Rich. The planting was beautifully understated and their use of stone was exemplary. Laying the stones vertically in parts of the traditional dry stone wall showed real ingenuity.
David and Harry Rich (I think)
The Box ball seemed a little out of place, the wall behind was stunning.
The planting was nicely understated
Iris Sultan’s Palace took my eye, but not really emblamatic of a Welsh hillside
There were several gardens based on recreating a natural environment this year including the above Artisan garden, The Australian Garden winner of best in show and a garden in the Fresh category that illustrates a garden in the south of France after a fire by James Basson.
Living in a more or less Mediterranean climate myself (we have colder winters than ‘true’ Mediterranean climates) I was particularly interested in how the plants looked in this garden.
New growth emerges after the fire
At least here ALL the plants were suitable for the climate. I think they had been grown in the UK though because they were ‘soft’. I’m not sure how else I would describe them. Plants grown in Italy (or France in this case) grow tough because they don’t receive copious amounts of water, the wind is strong and the sun is really hot, the lavender in particular hardly looked like the same plant. But this is an observation not a criticism. I felt the contrast between the dead trees (from the fire) and the new vibrant life growing underneath was evocative of ‘place’ in a way few of the other gardens achieved.
The stone wall does look beautiful, I think I would have liked this garden too. You may be surprised but I heard Alan Titmarsh echo your comments on TV and say he would look forward to more innovation in the garden designs.
I am surprised but I did get the impression that the presenters were as surprised as I was at the number of gold medals this year. Christina
Some strange gardens and groupings….not sure I was impressed with any…
Molto affascinante il giardino dopo l’incendio, mi rimanda nella nostra zona ai campi di ginestra (spartium) in molti casi esempio di vegetazione cresciuta a seguito di incendi. Seguendo questo esempio le ginestre del mio giardino sono nate da semi immersi in acqua bollente…
Anna Maria
I loved the dry wall too and the idea of reproducing a garden after a fire has been to the least very original, re-creating some kind of ‘natural memento’ could be an interesting path.
Yes, but most gardens need the gardener’s hand to extend the season of interest etc. Christina
I love these posts. I hope you have more.
One more to come. Christina
Your comments about the show are interesting. I appreciate your willingness to look with a critical eye.
Enjoyed reading more about this show. Interesting observation about the plants being ‘soft.’
I imagine that because of the cold, wet weather everything was grown under glass or in poly tunnels to get them to flowering stage; this always makes the foliage ‘soft’. Christina
Hi Christina, we loved Un Garreg and found the planting and concept to be peaceful and touching. Our only frustration was the plant lists on the blurb.
I loved that walling too, and look forward to seeing more from them in the future. Interesting about the plants in the “After the Fire” looking different because of the way they have been grown. We get our van back from being repaired soon, and I am looking forward to being able to get out and see some local gardens with a strong sense of place and some individuality. Maybe it is asking too much for large show gardens to have some soul to them, although I have seen that in the past.
Just proves that plants grown in tunnels are not so hardy, but then we knew that, didn’t we? Christina
Oh yes, I am always delighted when I find plants from places that grow them outside.