Garden design and landscaping experts Graduate Gardeners celebrated 50 years’ success with a triple win at RHS Malvern Spring Festival.
Designer Mark Draper’s golden anniversary showpiece, The Cotswold Garden scooped the board – winning a Gold Medal, Best in Show and Best Construction awards.
Our Wildflower Turf® Landscape-34 mix was used to stunning effect to create an idyllic Cotswold meadow, complete with bridge and stream, overlooking the impressive garden designed for family and friends to relax in and enjoy.
Inspired by beautiful Cotswold gardens and landscapes, The Cotswold Garden featured a seamless flow of three distinct areas – from the functional dining space, into the serene lounge area and over a fence, into the wildflower meadow. It was built in a space measuring 17m x 7m, with the majestic Malvern Hills in the background.
Our Landscape-34 wildflower mix is sown with a mixture of thirty-four wildflower varieties, with the Ragged Robin in full bloom at the show, and Ox Eye Daisies and Campion breaking open. From the garden’s ornate rusted gate, a mown path led to an old oak sleeper bridge, crossing a small stream that ran through the meadow.
Mark Draper said: The Cotswold Garden design was inspired by Graduate Gardeners’ 50th anniversary this year. I used materials such as Cotswold walling stone and Yorkstone paving, design elements and plants that reflected our work in the Cotswolds.
“It took a lot of time and energy to bring our showpiece garden together for the Malvern Show, but it was wonderful to win three awards – Gold, Best in Show and the Best Construction award, which recognised our team’s excellence, dedication and hard work.”
“Being at RHS Malvern was a perfect way to celebrate 50 years of designing and building beautiful gardens.”
The award-winning garden was built over 21 days, by a team of six from Graduate Gardeners Ltd, led by Foreman Dave Newns and with Mark on site mainly focusing on the construction of the meadow end of the garden and the border planting.
Mark said: “We chose Wildflower Turf Ltd’ Landscape 34 Wildflower Turf® for our Malvern show garden because we can rely on it to work. It’s perfect from a garden designer’s point of view as I was confident, we would get exactly what we needed and make the impact we wanted.
“The Landscape 34 Wildflower Turf® worked beautifully in our interpretation of a Cotswolds garden – the meadow area was 35 square metres, within two days of it being laid, the wildflowers were attracting bees. It was great to showcase it to the public at Malvern to raise awareness of what can be achieved in a small space.
“Our clients are now more aware of the many benefits of wildflower spaces, such as providing a perfect habitat for bees and other insects, it’s high impact and low maintenance, and suitable for many soil types. So, we work with Wildflower Turf Ltd regularly and we are very happy to use their products.”
Find out more about the Landscape 34 Wildflower Turf® Mix here: https://wildflowerturf.co.uk/products/wildflower-turf/landscape-34/ and read about Graduate Gardeners award-winning garden design services at: https://www.graduategardeners.co.uk/