Cape Town - What are international garden designers dreaming up for your garden this summer? One of the best places for peeking into the future is to take a look at the gardens built each year for the largest garden show in the world.
Known as the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, it is hosted every July in the grounds of the grand Hampton Court Palace, south-east of London.
As a midsummer show, the gardens at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show highlight patio gardening, summer-flowering blooms, new plant releases, floral displays, the latest garden accessories and information about growing your own herbs and vegetables.
The highlight of the show is the 29 keynote designer gardens. Created by internationally renowned landscapers, they are a clear indication of emerging trends which will be followed by passionate and interested gardeners across the world.
What were the big trends at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year?
l Recreating nature
The “naturalistic” planting style has been growing in strength over the past decade, and many designers chose this style. Of particular interest is the various ways in which such plantings can differ.
Some gardens looked like a wildflower meadow. While one can admire the extremely accurate recreation of naturally occurring plant combinations, such plantings may not appeal to the average gardener. Their main advantage is that they offer a haven for wildlife, and usually they include a pond and an insect “hotel”.
Combinations of grasses and perennials are a variation on the naturalistic theme. This planting partnership originally derived from the natural prairies in the US, but has now developed further.
Depending on plant choice, the effect can be gentle and soft, or bold and striking.
The soft style included perennials in blue or mauve shades, while the bold version included larger red, orange and yellow blooms.
Blue and mauve was the most popular colour combination this year. Agapanthus, lavender and salvia featured in many gardens.
l Dry-climate gardens
The Best on Show trophy for the top garden went to Essence of Australia, which featured a dry-climate indigenous Australian water-wise design. Plants throughout the garden had water-wise characteristics, like small leaves and grey foliage.
The garden highlighted how to position water-wise plants in zones of contrasting bold, hard landscaping. The typical red gravelly soil of much of Australia inspired a red-and-yellow colour scheme which made this garden interesting and attractive.
Connecting with Nature used plants from Mediterranean-climate countries – olives, agapanthus and gladioli, with a bold wooden sculpture as a focal point.
Halo featured plants from Greece and was inspired by traditional island life. A circular braai area was the focal point of this gravel garden. The background shape and the brilliant blue overhead circle recall white Greek Orthodox churches trimmed with blue.
Studying how to design and zone attractive gardens in areas with an erratic or expensive delivery of piped municipal water is an ongoing trend at all major garden shows. The gardens at Hampton Court offer the best of water-wise ideas.
l Geometric shapes
Strong geometric shapes, both two-dimensional, such as paved areas, patios, ponds and rills, and three-dimensional, such as benches and garden art, were a hallmark of the show. Furniture in outdoor entertainment areas was also geometric and sleek. This reflects the continuing popularity of neo-modernist design. Clearly defined hard landscaping elements also serve as an excellent contrast with grass and perennial plantings, with each complementing the other.
The large geometric garden, known as the Hampton Garden, was a close runner-up for the award of Best in Show. Neo-modernist elements are the geometric layout, hard landscaping, a sheet of water falling from a wall and vertical wall plantings. However, the plantings are more colourful and less rigorous and, influenced by the ecological movement, a pond for wildlife is included.
Vertical and horizontal concrete slabs and timber planks are used to create a sheltered seating area, a reflective pond and waterfall in a small space in the Garden of Solitude, which was judged the Best Budget Garden. Square reflecting ponds surrounded by wispy plantings set in gravel featured in a garden entitled One Show Garden.
All the accoutrements of neo-modernist design were to be found in numerous gardens.
Vestra Wealth’s Vista featured various levels and layers of planting, and hard landscaping surrounding a dining terrace with a cantilevered table.
Gabions, or rocks enclosed by wire mesh, are still hugely popular features in formal garden design. Often they are surrounded by copper and packed with split timber, which provides a shelter for insects and small creatures.
l Ecological awareness
Wildlife-friendly ponds, insect hotels and nectar-rich plants feature in many show gardens. While Cape Town gardeners work towards creating leopard toad- or chameleon-friendly gardens, conservationists in Britain are concerned with the declining hedgehog population.
Not surprisingly, a hedgehog-friendly garden, entitled Hedgehog Street, was judged the Best Small Garden at this year’s show.
Gardens isolated from one another by solid fencing or walls prevent hedgehogs from finding shelter, food and mates. The hedgehog-friendly garden highlighted the need for agreement among neighbours to make small holes in their boundaries to help wild animals roam freely.
Creative use of recycled and upcycled materials is a recurring theme in many gardens. The teenage-friendly Space to Connect & Grow garden is built from recycled industrial materials, and includes a pavilion with a “green” roof and metal stage. The plantings make it an attractive urban space.
Weekend Argus