Hampton Court – the show gardens

I always approach show gardens with mixed feelings. I can appreciate the idea of designing a garden for an individual, making someone’s dream garden a reality. I just think show gardens are a different ball game. They are often sponsored by assorted manufacturers, some extremely incongruous. They often have weird and wonderful titles which have a very tenuous connection to the garden’s design. Some are so contrived and over designed to fit an idea that that there is often no place for people or plants – or indeed any realistic growth or future development – Perhaps I’m being a little over critical here.

In truth they can give pleasure. Sometimes I see a garden I like as a whole entity, I would take it home if I could – that’s a joy. There is often some small piece of a garden I can use as inspiration and reuse in my own garden. I think this is how gardeners benefit the most. Some gardens are fascinating constructions, one way or another and can inspire envy and wonder. I love looking at them. Even so, I know in my heart these are show gardens and exist in a parallel gardening universe. I’ll leave you to make up your own mind. Here are some examples from the Hampton Court show. The quotes are from the official catalogue. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Here is Gambling Environments, which has “an environmental focus, concentrating on recycling and the consequences we all face if we fail to recycle”

Ceci ne’st pas un jardin “Referencing the work of artists Fischli and Weiss, Magritte and Duchamp” this installation challenges the defination of a garden, and creates a sense of theatre” … “Can it be classified as a garden if it is unfinished, or can we still find aesthetic merit in the suspended nature of the installation”.

This family garden attempts to show that Sustainability can be Sexy . Almost all the materials are recycled, the hammock is made of recycled seatbelts for example.

The Traveller’s Garden was inspired by Walter de la Mare’s poem “The Listeners”. The intention is for the garden to have “a ghostly feel” and to be “somewhat menacing in places”.

The Three in One Garden “combines an edible garden, a family garden and a contemporary garden for grown ups within the boundaries of a typical urban space”.

Branching out with Copella - The Apple Juice Garden “draws inspiration from apple juice production and aims to raise awareness of the plight of our dwindling apple orchards”.

Benecol’s Prism Garden supports Rainbow Trust a children’s charity. Here light and colour are regarded as essential to the general well being of all life. “The central theme is the splitting of white light to create a rainbow, encouraging others to play with light in their gardens”.

I did like some of the gardens. I wish I could have taken more pictures outdoors but the rain made me put my camera away. The Digger has perfected a way of using the camera while simultaneously staying under an umbrella. In the end even he got disheartened. Better luck with the weather next year.