Last Thursday saw the doors open at the Malvern Spring Gardening Show. Being one of the first shows on the calender, Malvern is a great opportunity to get that all important first glimpse of what’s new in gardening and outdoor living.
The two gold medal awards in the Show Gardens Arena proved that our appetite for grow-your-own and sustainability remains as strong as ever.
The Best in Show was won for the 3rd year in a row by Graduate Gardeners, whose ‘Garden for Life’ incorporated many sustainability concepts including rainwater harvesting, a solar powered water feature, an Eco Beehive and a Wormery. They highlighted how even the smallest of spaces can not only be utilised for growing fruit and veg but at the same time, with its beautiful naturalistic planting, be a garden we would all love to own.
A second worthy gold was awarded to ‘My Very Local Veg Garden’ by Hannah Genders. Everything in the garden was sourced within a cycle ride of her Evesham home, making it truly local! She used many heritage seeds such as the climbing bean ‘Painted Lady’ and everything was labeled so you could see how far she had to cycle to source it. I just love the old church chairs she has sourced for the outdoor dining, I shall be keeping my eye out for some of them!
The whole garden will be rebuilt at Hillers Farm Shop, Alcester, so if you missed it you will be able to pop along and have a look.
In the Floral Marquee, ‘reuse, recycle and reduce’ was a mantra continually repeated as we saw wonderfully inventive ways to display our plants and veg. Bath tubs, wine boxes and step ladders were all used to demonstrate how easy it is to achieve the very best in Eco Chic design.
Finally, the star of the show has to be this Ladybird poppy; its cheerful head was seen bobbing out of plastic bags and plant trolleys all day as eager shoppers took it home to brighten up a corner of their own garden. These easy to grow poppies will flower all summer, and although they are grown as annuals, if they are happy in your garden will self-seed for many years to come.
Dovetail Design is a full-service interior and exterior design consultancy based in Warwickshire, the West Midlands and London. Dovetail has an established reputation for creating and delivering stunning and innovative interior designs and garden designs, coupled with outstanding customer service. Specialising in marquee events, Dovetail also creates bespoke and inspiring designs which reflect the mood or theme of your wedding or special occasion perfectly.