'Gavinish' design fails to wow Chelsea judges

IRISH GARDENER Diarmuid Gavin's entry has only managed a bronze medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Gavin's design, a typically flamboyant creation which he called Cafe Garden, garnered much attention and column inches, but did not impress the judges enough for gold.

The courtyard-style garden featured outsized steel daisies, French meshwork chairs, a great deal of boxed hedges, a forest of lollipop Catalpa trees and real daisies. Gavin described the garden as "Honey I Shrunk the Kids meets Roald Dahl" while his sponsor, the restaurateur and Habitat founder Terence Conran, described it as "Gavinish, very Gavinish".

The result will disappoint Gavin, who lives in Co Wicklow. He was unavailable for comment last night. It is the sixth time he has entered the prestigious show garden category.

His presence has enlivened the usual genteel atmosphere of the flower show. Four years ago he was involved in a very public altercation over the height of a wall with Bunny Guinness whose show garden was next door to his.

The public have flocked to his creations, particularly his eye-catching multi-coloured pod first unveiled in 2004 and still going, yet he has still to win a gold medal. To date he has won three silver and two bronze medals.

All but one of the 21 gardens entered into the show garden category, the most prestigious at the festival, were given an award this year.

Fifteen show gardens won either gold or silver awards, five including Gavin's won bronze and an Italian-styled garden with a lot of water features was the only one that did not feature in the prizes.

The overall winner and best in show was the Laurent-Perrier Garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, the second year in a row he has won the top award. He has now won a hat-trick of top awards.

The garden, which featured only two colours, green and white, is described as "a contemplative space with a dreamy, slightly surreal character". Careful pruning creates the illusion of plants floating in mid-air.

Stuart-Smith has a relatively low profile but is highly regarded in the gardening world and has won seven gold medals at Chelsea.

A gold medal was also awarded for the Cancer Research UK Garden designed by British gardener Andy Sturgeon. Gavin and Sturgeon fell out in recent years over allegations of plagiarism.

Gavin was the only Irish entrant in this year's show, but there was an Irish connection to another show garden winner.

The British designer Philip Nixon, a former pupil of Blackrock College in Dublin, won a gold medal for his Savills Garden which was inspired by the Tate Modern art gallery in London.

This year's Chelsea Flower Show had a strong Beatles element with both Ringo Starr and the band's former producer George Martin visiting "From Life to Life, A Garden for George".

The garden was designed by George Harrison's widow, Olivia. The Beatles' guitarist died of cancer in 2001.

Mrs Harrison won a silver medal for her garden which is dedicated to her late husband's memory.