As I wander around the Garden Show I always try and think about specific ideas which I think are particularly clever or effective and here are my top 10.
1. Lawn Bed. I love this concept ….. even if the part of me wonders how you actually mow it!? This scene definitely drew me in and I know that the therapeutic effect of lying on such a living bed would be grounding and bring you down to earth.
2. Rope fencing …………. or was it screening. Such a simple way to create a petition and yet it looked so effective.
3. Floating steps with pond underneath. At first the broad rectangular pavers seemed to draw you straight in and then I noticed that they seamlessly crossed a pond. I love it!
4. Planting through street art. Street art itself is becoming more mainstream and what a great idea to break it up with plants.
5. Xeriscaping with succulents interplanted with bog plants. The waterwise drought tolerant succulents and Sempervivums would not usually grow in the same environment as bog loving pitcher plants, however if you concealed ponds well, this effect could actually work.
6. Painted bessa bricks. Often when people purchase a property with an old bessa brick wall they look at removing it, yet this wall looked so effective when it was painted.
7. Gravel paths and gravel as mulch. This is not new, but it looks great.
8. Merging area of small stone pavers with gravel. Again this is not new, just well done!
9. Recycled concrete for stepping stones. These stepping stones are actually pieces of a concrete slab salvaged from the tip and they look great.
10. Framed climber – I love this simple idea of growing a climber up and using it to fill a space, in this case within a picture frame.
