News
Up front design
Garden designers at this year's show have been inspired to offer ‘green’ solutions to the modern front garden. A survey conducted by MORI for the RHS revealed that the need for car parking spaces is squeezing out plants and front lawns as paving takes over - but inspiration is at hand for visitors to the show.
Designer Alistair Kirk Bayford will be creating 23 Green Terrace, a small garden illustrating an alternative to a paved front garden. The garden caters for a small car which can be parked on a reinforced grass area sheltered by a cantilevered green roof which maximises the biodiversity of the space. Rainwater can be harvested from the roof for use in the house and garden and is stored in a tank under the car. Bands of granite and thyme run alongside native hedging and a vertical ‘green’ wall planted with a mixture of geraniums, salvias and alliums.
Full Frontal, a small garden from Hadlow College, will also prove that your front garden can provide car parking without becoming a hard surfaced desert. The garden surface is made up of a wire grid with below-ground planting to provide a damp, shady microclimate and allow water to seep into the ground. Above ground, the grid rises and provides climbing support for plants and shelter for birds. The planting scheme will be wildlife-friendly, drought-tolerant and durable to help withstand the urban setting.
Leigh Hunt, RHS Horticultural Advisor, commented: “It’s great to see designers taking up the green vs paving challenge. Unlike soil, concrete cannot absorb rainwater and the excess run-off caused by paving can increase by as much as 50 percent, contributing to localised flooding and other environmental problems. These show gardens provide people with attractive, sustainable designs and real, practical solutions to the space problem in urban areas.”
Leigh and the rest of the RHS Advisory Team will be on-hand to answer visitors’ gardening questions every day of the show.
A special RHS Garden Matters leaflet, Front Gardens, full of practical tips and ideas on planting and landscaping, can be downloaded from the RHS website.