(Above - RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2006 - John Everiss & Peter Gregory - 'Energised' Show Garden)

RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2006
19 - 23 July
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Tatton's Campus designers help us minimise environmental impact

One again young designers from local colleges are well represented at Tatton. Students from Reaseheath College with Muller Dairy (UK) Limited, have created 'The Plot' (Silver flora) (pictured below). The garden contains plants raised by children from local junior and infant schools in Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffs and features a Growing Spaces Dome, providing a focal point and designed and constructed to minimise environmental impact. Within the dome a diverse range of tropical fruits and vegetables are growing. The garden demonstrates fruit and veg production alongside companion planting techniques.

The 'Compass Garden', (Bronze) designed by students from the Welsh College of Horticulture, (pictured below) emphasises colour as a fundamental design element using the colour wheel with the compass represented by the sunken seating area and pool. The aspect of a garden is important to design and the right plant has been chosen for the right place in this 'northern' garden.

(Students from Welsh College of Horticulture - Daniel Chadwick, Jon Hore & Terry Bainbridge)

Finchale Training College choose the theme of reclamation and rebirth through renewable energy. Finchale is a vocational rehabilitation college for adults with disabilities and their "Energy Oasis" (Silver flora) (pictured below) is an oasis of calm reflection in the student's often traumatic life and transforms them into fully functioning members of society. The mirrors within the garden represent the reflection necessary to reveal hidden depths, the water the healing quality of hope in a desert of despair and the plants the beauty of sustainable growth through endeavour.

Clusius College travelled from the Netherlands to bring 'The Sky is the
Limit' (Bronze) (pictured below) which demonstrates how a city roof can be transformed into a living landscape. 'Tea for two', (Bronze) from the students at Askham Bryan College, York, and designed by Mary Hirst, offers us a tranquil seating area designed to be set within a much larger garden. The owner has an interest in growing a few colourful plants which are used to enliven the immediate area around the seating, but the rest of the garden requires very little maintenance.

Children were involved in the design of the North West Regional Development Agency’s garden, 'A healthy future – englandnorthwest' (Gold) – a modern interpretation of the traditional walled kitchen garden, there is lots to see and enjoy in this garden.

Another children's garden that promotes understanding of plants and the role they play in our environment comes from Fforwm Tirlun Featuring St Brigid's School School Garden - 'Stepping Forward’ (Bronze).

Congratulations go out to all the students and staff involved in these
imaginative show gardens.

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