Exhibitors
Courtyard gardens
A W Gardening Services
The Old Gate
Designers: Adam Woolcott (Principal Designer), Jonathan Smith (Co-Designer)
Sponsors: Croudace Homes, Langthorns Plantery, Cox's Architectural Salvage
Contractor: Conway Landscapes
Click on the images to view a hi-res version
This old farmyard garden was once lovingly maintained, especially by the farmer’s wife, who found the soft colours of the perennials a welcome change from the open fields of uniform crops. Sadly, war has changed all this, and the farm is growing food to fight a war and boost the Dig for Victory campaign. Part of the garden has now been turned over to
vegetables, and the once-cherished perennials seem frivolous and unworthy of such loving attention. Nature has invaded the perennials, and wild flowers and grasses grow among them, creating a dishevelled but still beautiful mix of man-made and Mother Nature.
The Old Gate is a garden built to create a sense of nostalgia by evoking memories of the past. It is a garden based on an old farmyard from the 1930s to 1940s.
While looking back to the past, this garden also looks to the future. It uses recycled and reclaimed materials, encourages wild plants and therefore wildlife, and promotes heritage fruit and vegetable cultivars in order to secure their future.
This is Adam Woolcott’s second time at Chelsea; last year his garden not only won an RHS Gold Medal, but also the BBC/RHS People’s Award for best small garden in the show.