Post show

With the show over, its time to dismantle the garden as quickly as possible. True to the theme we managed to someone who wanted to take our wall and rebuild it in their garden not far from Hampton Court, and the plants are transported to their next appointment - a permaculture garden at the CLA Game Fair at Belvoir Castle. Its a hectic life being a show plant.

That's it. Except to say thanks to everyone who generously contributed time and resources to putting the garden together. It really was a team effort. And thanks to anyone who has following the blog. Hope you have enjoyed it.

Showtime

What we really want to do is go home now and sleep, but there is just the small issue of the Show itself - just 6 days of explaining what the pile of bracken in the garden is supposed to be! Unfortunately in the relief of having got to his point we forgot to take to any photos of us with our adoring public. You will just have to take our word that it that it was heaving.

Day 16 - Judgement Day

Well, its a silver medal. We are really thrilled and pleased that all the hard work has been rewarded. In the end the judges feedback was that some of our plants let us down slightly (well it is a horticultural show after all) and in particular the hazels that never fully developed after the trauma of being dug out of their wood in February - we can hardly blame them.

Day 14 - Build Up (Finishing touches)

A day off yesterday to recharge our batteries for a last push. Today, Sunday 5th July, we have our last change to make those finishing touches and also an opportunity for an informal chat with the judges before official judging tomorrow.

Day 12 - Build Up (Almost there)

Well the end is in site. The planting was finished today barring a few ferns that are still to be collected and the leaf litter spread. And the charcoal 'pudding' got a dressing of bracken and moss. These, together with soil and turf, were used in traditional charcoal making to exclude oxygen from the combustion inside the mound and thus prevent the wood igniting.

Day 10 & 11 - Build Up (Planting)

The rest of the plants have arrived and so its time to set these out and get them planted. Our groundcover planting consists of native woodland species and a few common plants that are often thought of as weeds. Nettles, brambles and other 'weeds' have been included because while they may not be our favourite garden plants they do have a role to play in maintaining a sustainable balance of native flora and fauna. Its the woodlanders though that are the stars of the show, beautiful and less common perennials such as sweet woodruff, betony and red campion.

Day 9 - Build Up (Can you guess what it is yet?)

Matt makes a start on the final structure. Remembering that the garden is a bit of theatre and in the interests of sustainabalility (naturally) it seemed a bit over the top to actually build a traditional charcoal burner. So after some conferring and a bit of head scratching an ingenious method was devised, based on the construction methods of a summer pudding. In our case, rather than timber, the tasty filling comprises a nutritious mixture of straw and soil, wrapped up in a crispy membrane. Genius.