Exhibitors
SHOW GARDENS | WATER GARDENS | SMALL GARDENS | CONCEPTUAL GARDENS
INSPIRING SPACES | WINDOWBOXES & HANGING BASKETS
PLANTS | GROWING & SHOWING MARQUEE | MARKET PLACE |
Show gardens
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council
The Cockler’s Garden
Designer: Staff of Leisure, Culture and Amenity Services Department
Sponsor: The Rendezvous Casino
Click here to view a panorama of this garden.
There are two themes within The Cockler’s Garden: the first is the drought-tolerant maritime planting, the second is the Essex cockle, scallop and oyster fishing industry which was at its height during the 1900s. The wooden planks and ribs on the foreshore belong to the Pioneer, a 64ft deep sea fishing smack that was built in 1864 at Rowhedge, Essex. The Pioneer sank in 1942 but was salvaged in 1998 and is now a fully restored training vessel.
Surrounding the cockle fishermen’s shed are many of the maritime plants common along the Essex coastline, such as the majestic sea kale, horned poppy, maritime cabbage and fennel which grows happily on the well-drained beaches and foreshores. The picket fence surrounding the garden provides protection for the more drought-tolerant perennial plants, including geranium, ox-eye daisies, kniphofia, rubeckia and sea hollies. Sedum and wildflower turf growing on the shed’s roof provide plenty of food for insects when in flower. A cockleshell path winds its way through the plants out on to the beach, where maritime shrubs grow through the remains of the Pioneer.