Exhibitors
SHOW GARDENS | COURTYARD GARDENS | CHIC GARDENS | CITY GARDENS
PLANTS | FLORAL ART | LIFELONG LEARNING | MARKET PLACE
Courtyard gardens
South West Garden Designers Group
A Cornish Oasis
Designers: Kevin Gleeson, Martyn Sergeant, Will Atkins, Martin Gane, Fiona Le Tissier, Tim Davies and Lesley Kingsley
Sponsors: Duchy of Cornwall Nursery, cornishoasis.com, Amcor Flexibles, Taste of the West, Rob Hibberd (Architectural Oak)
Contractor: Graduate Gardeners
Click on the image to view a hi-res version
A Cornish Oasis garden uses innovative planting and hard landscaping to convey an impression of the traditional Cornwall, linking and merging with the modern to present an image of Cornwall as a county that is transforming and restyling itself.
The plants in this garden are an exciting blend, which thrive in the Cornish climate. The plants aim to create an impression of new Cornwall emerging from a rich past.
The new Cornwall is depicted by the garden’s modern sculpture, which was made by a young artist from University College, Falmouth. A curved granite path with slate inlays draws the visitor to sit in the heart of the garden and to explore and experience the varied planting. The round, Arthurian-influenced seat consists of a slate base, with a seat and enclosure constructed from rough-hewn green oak.
Entering the Cornish Oasis garden, the visitor feels that they are entering a woodland glade, where plants illustrate the shift in Cornwall, from ancient to modern, referred to in other elements of the design.
Some plants are included to illustrate how the Cornish climate supports new crops, normally associated with warmer climes, such as Eucalyptus and Camellia sinensis (China tea). Others are examples of plants once associated with the tropics, such as Cyathea australis (tree fern), which are now a common sight in Cornwall. These exotics are presented with native plants such as Dactylorhiza maculata (heath spotted orchid) and Sibthorpia europaea (Cornish moneywort).
The colours - mainly reds, maroons, purples and dashes of acid yellow and green - produce a contemporary look within a classic setting. The planting design in the Cornish Oasis garden is a microcosm of the plants found throughout Cornwall today.
The group that produced the design for this garden are all recent graduates of the Pickard School of Garden Design. The group wanted to illustrate and celebrate the diversity of flora and fauna in Cornwall and how the climate can play host to an exciting variety of exotic plants.