Exhibitors
Show Gardens
Clive Scott Garden Design
Into the Valley
Designer: Clive Scott (Clive Scott Garden Design)
Sponsors: Lindon Turf, Loose Nurseries
Contractor: Clive Scott Garden Design
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This garden is a tribute to the charge of the Light Brigade, and the Tennyson poem that it inspired.
The garden depicts the charge by means of an open poetry book constructed from fine pieces of turf, with planting across it, reflecting the colours of the uniforms of the troops that made up the brigade. The sabre-like Crocosmia 'Lucifer' stand proudly as the sabres would have done on that day. The Stipa tenuissima portray the hoof dust of the charge. At the end of the valley, a phalanx of Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Spire' (Russian sage) and Hebe 'Mrs Winder' are interrupted by the charge as it breaks through the cannon positions of the Russian and Cossack soldiers. The plants have been selected for their colours within the overall scheme, and their suitability for a well-drained, sunny site.
673 men entered the valley, but only 198 survived. Two of these men have a local connection: Trumpet-Major William Smith, a resident of Knutsford, and Major Rudolph Sallis, brother of Lady de Tabley. Exactly 673 plants have been used in this design to represent the charge.