Jane Powers meets designers getting ready for next year's garden shows
AN IRISH GARDEN AT CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW ...
"There are no gimmicks. It's really basic!" says Elma Fenton of her design for one of the major gardens at next year's Chelsea Flower Show. Well, of course, no Chelsea garden is ever basic, or free from crowd-pleasing devices, but the Kildare designer's garden is based on a simple concept.
Her "Moat and Castle" garden follows the centuries-old "cut and fill" principle, where the soil that is excavated from a hollow is then used to raise the level of the surrounding land. Or, you could look at it the other way, explains Elma: "it's like when children are playing with sand: they build the castle, and are left with the moat."
In the case of the 20 by 30 metre Chelsea garden, the "moat" is a channel running the length of the site, while the "castle" is a contoured landscape, with an elevated orchard and lawn, a meadow, and a grass slope for small people to roll down.
The long canal is no ordinary body of water, it is an eco-friendly "swimming pond": a relatively new idea, born in Austria in the 1980s. Unlike a conventional swimming pool, the pond requires no chemicals for purification: instead the water is filtered by marginal plants such as willow, bulrush and sedge, growing on a shallow shelf along its edge. In theory, this naturalistic swimming pool is filled by the water that runs off the rest of the site, in a neat, self-contained cycle of drainage and fill.
The garden can be seen as a three-step process, says Elma. "Cut, fill and clothe." Much of the clothing will be native species, such as meadow plants, and a diminutive hazel grove underplanted with a swathe of wild garlic - which will add a distinctive smell to the North Avenue of the Chelsea show grounds.
Sustainability - a chic theme in garden design at the moment - is central to Elma's Moat and Castle creation. The hazel will supply wood for coppicing - as well as nuts for eating. A hedge, sculpted into angular shapes reflecting a rugged landscape, will be a home for wildlife. Where possible, elements that are not supplied by the site itself will be recycled from elsewhere. A path alongside the pond, for instance, will be made from recycled glass, processed into a fine grit-like surface in muted greenish colours. The wildlife hedge will include hawthorn salvaged from a field that is going to be developed.
The two venerable and characterful old apple trees that make up the mini orchard have yet to be found. And not only is Elma uncertain where she'll get them (any orchards out there slated for development?), but even when she does find them, she's not sure they'll survive the trauma of being uprooted.
Her plan is to lift them during the dormant season, and mind them carefully until it's time to build the garden in May. But a fruit expert has expressed doubt as to whether they'll reawaken in spring. "They may not take, so we have to have a back-up plan," says the designer. "They're my biggest concern at the moment," she admits.
Oh, and there is also the fact that the garden needs sponsorship of €150,000. So, if any company would like to open their wallet, there's an Irish designer who would be delighted to hear from you.
Elma Fenton, Ellen Landscape Designs, 7 Cowper Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6 (01-4977311; 086-8122396)
... AND AT HAMPTON COURT
Liat and Oliver Schurmann of Dublin's Mount Venus Nursery have had their "Walk on Water" design accepted for next July's Hampton Court Flower Show. The garden of water, mossy rocks and unusual plants is inspired by the island landscapes near Durrus in west Cork. "It'll be very quiet and subtle," says Oliver.
The moss-covered stones will be entirely homegrown. The tufa-like artificial stone (which the Schurmanns will make) will be covered with "crumbled up moss. Keep them moist, cover them up, exclude bright light, and the moss should grow." (Now, there's a trade secret.)
The funding will ideally also be Irish-grown, which is why the Schurmanns are looking for around €60,000 to bring a bit of west Cork to Hampton Court. Can you help?
Mount Venus Nursery, Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. (01-4933813) schurmann@ireland.com
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Students of garden design may be interested in The Book of Garden Plans edited by Andrew Wilson (Mitchell Beazley, £25). About 140 plans from 72 established garden designers and landscape architects are included. Most are based in Britain, but there is a tiny scattering from elsewhere (none, alas, from Ireland). Among the featured practitioners are John Brookes, Bonita Bulaitis, Arabella Lennox-Boyd, Anthony Paul, Steven Woodhams and other well-known names.
All the designs (with the exception of a handful of show gardens) are for real gardens, many of them domestic ones. Paul Cooper gives his clients a party garden, where the sprung dance floor includes an under-floor fan to give a Marilyn Monroe waft to skirts. Andy Sturgeon's London roof garden for a young bachelor features a hot tub, and colourful wind socks to catch the breeze. The same designer proves his ability to creating a family space, where a bold spiral garden conceals both a bike store and a child's swing.