Over the weekend, hundreds of keen gardeners filled the NEC in Birmingham to hear from experts, browse exhibitors stalls and take inspiration from a number of superb show gardens. Wildflower Turf were delighted to supply turf to a few of the award-winning designers; Mosaic Design, The Gardenmakers and Halcyon Days.
Owen Morgan, of Mosaic Design, was awarded Best Show Garden and a Gold Award for the Health for Life Community Garden. The Show Garden supports the Health for Life programme, celebrating the use of community gardening as a device to engage with wider social issues. Funded by the Mondel?z International Foundation and delivered by TCV, the Health for Life in the community programme started in 2012 and has created fifteen community food growing spaces in south Birmingham involving 3,000 volunteers so far.
Not only did the Health for Life Community Garden look spectacular, it also hosted a range of fun activities for visitors to enjoy. They held live performances and children could partake in seed mat planting and healthy eating activities, promoting healthy lifestyles for the Health for Life programme.
In conjunction with the Gardenmakers of Warwickshire, Claudia de Yong won the People’s Choice Award and a Silver Merit for creating a small, natural oasis in the heart of a city environment. Claudia de Yong is known for creating ‘romantic’ gardens and landscapes, and uses the finest materials and carefully chosen plants. The garden features a curved brick path, leading to a small shed housing gardening essentials. Claudia’s deep love for traditional crafts inspired the urban haven, which features a bespoke ‘insect hotel’, a small potager for vegetables, a beehive and fruit trees. A wildflower meadow supplied by Wildflower Turf gives the garden a sense of tranquility and thrives with colour.
Owen Morgan and Claudia de Yong weren’t the only award winners of Gardeners’ Worl
d Live to use Wildflower Turf, Andy Tudbury of Halcyon Garden Design was awarded Bronze for the Show Garden Legacy. Designed to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Geoff Hamilton’s death, the boardwalk goes over a shallow gravel pool between two raised beds planted with Geoff Hamilton roses. Recycled plants and materials were used in creating the memorable show garden, for instance, the boardwalk is made from scaffold boards. A mass bed of cottage style planting is located to the right, with a striking wildflower meadow to the left.
Check out the Gardeners’ World Live website to see the highlights.