Designing and building a show garden at a national flower show
The dust has settled and it's back to the usual routine. But before I get share some of this autumns new designs, here's a little round up of my experience doing a show garden at RHS Tatton 2023.
It takes a village
My first solo show garden was certainly a labour of love, but while I was alone in the design and build, I had a raft of supporters behind me. From my wonderful hubby letting me borrow his beloved van for a few weeks, to my mum who came to fettle the plants, to my kids who were keen to assist in watering my plants whenever the need arose.
During the build there was a real camaraderie amongst the designers on site, sharing tools, offering cake and sharing intel on the nearby nurseries open over a weekend. Even the event co-ordinators were friendly, approachable and gave lots of great advice.
I was also very lucky to get help during the show from fellow garden designers from my local region to help man my garden, helping people with questions about the garden when I couldn't be there.
Engagement with the public
A real highlight was the amount of engagement I had with the public. We used nearly all of the 200 explorer packs I had printed up, and it was lovely to see so many young visitors at the show. We had school groups, instagrammers, families and some visitors living with sensory limitations, who kindly took the time to chat with me about their own gardening experiences. Particularly inspiring was the number of school groups who came, who have in-turn inspired me to start up our own gardening club at my children's school.
Support for the build
I have been extremely lucky to have had the support of not just a wonderful plant nursery Johnsons of Whixley, but also the lovely folks at Rusty Rooster who loaned us the fabulous sculptures. This took pressure off the very tight budget and allowed me to use quality products I might not otherwise have afforded.
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