A garden designed to give the appearance of plants floating in mid air has won top honours at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Judges today awarded the Laurent-Perrier Garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith a gold medal and the prestigious title of best in show.
The garden is described as "a contemplative space with a dreamy, slightly surreal character" and features a grove of hornbeams pruned into "rounded clouds".
A number of zinc tanks appearing to overflow are dotted throughout the garden, with planting based around form and texture rather than colour.
The best in show award is the third for Mr Stuart-Smith and brings his tally of Chelsea golds to seven.
He said today: "A lot of people go into making a garden like this so you feel a lot of responsibility. It's fantastic.
"I wanted to show that a garden doesn't have to be firing on all cylinders and be a blaze of colour and full of gimmicks. This is a garden that is quite serene and subdued."
Thousands of gardening fans descended on the sell-out world famous show when it opened its doors to the public today.
Set over 11 acres, home-grown exhibits are joined by exotic flowers and displays from Jamaica to Australia.
The London event also features gardens designed with particular people in mind including children, the elderly, those with limited space - and even stargazers.
The show was given the Royal seal of approval yesterday when the Queen visited.
She stopped to admire a garden designed in memory of former Beatle George Harrison, which tells the story of the keen gardener's life, and spent several minutes chatting to his widow Olivia.
She also met Yvonne Innes, who designed From Life To Life, A Garden for George.
Ringo Starr and Sir George Martin gave the garden the thumbs up during a trip to the show yesterday.
A host of celebrities - including actors, sports stars and television presenters - also enjoyed a preview of the show's highlights.
Now in its 86th year, some 157,000 people will visit the event, which is organised by the Royal Horticultural Society and runs until Saturday.
Nearly 400 new plants have been launched at the show in the past six years, with many more being added to the list this year.
During show week, 5,000 bottles of champagne, 49,000 glasses of Pimms, 54,000 cups of tea and coffee and 28,000 sandwiches will be sold at the site.
No comments:
Post a Comment