On Show

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Brewin Dolphin Garden, Cleve West, Joe Swift, Lysimachia 'Beaujolais', M&G Garden, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2104

© 2014 Ian Curley

Of all the RHS flower shows it is Chelsea where the gardens feature the most prominently. For some people they receive too much attention with reams of copy in the newspapers and the seemingly endless dissecting on TV. I have to admit that I do find certain elements of the coverage veers towards navel gazing and pretentiousness but I think this is inevitable when garden designers are discussing their contemporaries. It’s not just gardening which is guilty of this. Take a look at some of the food programmes on the TV at the moment and you’ll see the strange phenomenon whereby chefs are achieving a god-like status. And does anyone actually manage to sit through more than 10 minutes of any of those awards ceremonies without feeling nauseous? For me though, the gardens make Chelsea special.

The show gardens along Main Avenue are the starry element to the event. These are the haute couture of the gardening world. For most of us they are fantasy gardens but not for everybody. The Nancy Dell’Olio lookalike who stood next to me as we both looked towards The Telegraph Garden proceeded to tell the retinue around her that her own garden would look pretty much exactly like this by the end of the summer. It’s easy to dismiss these gardens as purely window dressing just as many do with catwalk fashion but just as the clothes we wear are influenced by the top fashion designers, their ideas filtering down to the high street, so do the trends, designs and plants used in the show gardens. I do shudder at the thought of how much money is spent on the large gardens but Chelsea has become a shop window for the best in British garden design.

I think the controversy that’s sparked every year when the medals are announced is fantastic. Why did so-and-so get a silver-gilt and not a gold, particularly when what’s-he-called got Best in Show? If the judges award more than 5 golds they’re being too generous, any less and they’re being too strict. I feel desperately for anyone who receives a silver or, even worse, a bronze. All that hard work and then you have to put on the brave face and say the medal doesn’t matter because the public love it. In reality we all know that if you go to all the trouble of putting yourself forward to design a garden you want silver-gilt at the very least. Or is that just my competitive streak talking?

Patrick Collins’ ‘A Garden for First Touch at St George’s’ – Chelsea 2014 © 2014 Ian Curley

I thought there was a lot to like about this year’s Chelsea gardens. Patrick Collins’ ‘A Garden for First Touch at St. George’s Hospital’ used the old rock bank and I loved the contrast his garden, built on a slope, provided to the relative flatness of the other show gardens. The planting was stunning, as was the use of the rusty steel, and it was one of the gardens which I felt offered realistic inspiration to your average gardener.

Matthew Childs’ Brewin Dolphin Garden received a silver-gilt but I really can’t see why he didn’t get a gold. Beautiful planting, stunning features and a joy to look at.

Cleve West’s M&G Garden. I love it from this angle. © 2014 Ian Curley

I’m a huge fan of Cleve West and was hugely looking forward to seeing his Persian inspired garden for M&G. Strangely though the garden didn’t have the impact I thought it would. It was beautifully executed and had fabulous planting but the front part of the garden which represented the dry, arid areas of the Iranian landscape slightly jarred. The odd thing was when I got home and looked through Wellyman’s photos it all seemed to work. Wellyman and I both came to the conclusion that the garden worked as a whole when viewed from certain points but not others.

The Rich brothers and their ‘A Night Sky Garden’ – Chelsea 2014′ © 2014 Ian Curley

The Rich brothers designed a fantastic artisan garden last year so I was looking forward to seeing their first show garden and I wasn’t disappointed. They take their inspiration from the landscape around their home in the Brecon Beacons, a place I know well. I loved the natural planting, the lack of bling and the idea that the garden will be used after Chelsea at an autistic centre in Cardiff.

The Telegraph Garden – Chelsea 2014 – I like the shot of colour here from Gladiolus byzantinus. © 2014 Ian Curley

The Telegraph Garden just didn’t do it for me, it was just too slick for my liking. Everyone seemed so taken with the pristine lawn but it just looked so green it could have been fake. Aren’t these types of lawns a little old-fashioned now anyway – a monoculture needing way too much attention, often of the chemical kind, and offering no real benefits to our native wildlife? Of all the gardens it felt the most corporate, the one which would appeal most to a city banker. It’s the type of garden I’d like to see less of at Chelsea. The geometric layout of Luciano Giubbilei’s Laurent Perrier Garden didn’t appeal but the planting was superb. A cool palette of creams, lemons and greens provided a nice contrast to the berry colours of reds and purples in evidence elsewhere.

Anchusa azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’ – Chelsea 2014 © 2014 Ian Curley

And that takes me to a point that has slightly niggled me for the last few years. The similarity in planting really can’t be a coincidence. Last year you couldn’t get stirred for cow parsley. Now I love a bit of frothy planting but I wouldn’t expect to see it on every garden. This year it was the turn of irises, aquilegia and Lysimachia ‘Beaujolais’. I know it’s spring and there are certain plants which are at their best now but the fact that the same plants, in the same colours turn up on different gardens is just a bit odd. Perhaps not so odd when you see that the gardens which shared the similar planting were all supplied by the same plant nursery. In the past it has been dismissed as ‘great minds think alike’ but, at last, Joe Swift suggested last night on the TV that it might well have something to do with nurseries presenting the designers with plants that will be at their peak for Chelsea week. The plum and claret colours I saw this year were really inspirational and I’m already thinking about ways I can incorporate them into my cut flower patch but perhaps for the gardens to be truly distinctive the issue of plant suppliers needs to be addressed.

 

 

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Finding Inspiration

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Alan Titchmarsh, Carol Klein, Cleve West, Dr Hessayon, Garden Media Guild, gardening books

What are your favourites?

It seems that the speech Dr Hessayon gave at the recent Garden Media Guild awards has created a bit of a stir. He wasn’t very optimistic about the future of gardening books, and in particular reference books, suggesting that the internet is killing them off. It was a statement that a substantial part of the audience, the assembled writers and publishers, probably didn’t want to hear. Then came a feature on the Guardian’s website entitled ‘Why are gardening books so boring?’ by Lucy Masters.

I LOVE books and always have, well, apart from a period of about a year after my degree when I couldn’t get beyond the second page of any book I picked up. My year at university had been a case of book overload and had taken the pleasure out of reading; I needed a break. It was gardening books that got me reading again. Wellyman bought me a set of Alan Titchmarsh books. We had just moved home from living abroad. I was stuck in a hotel on my own before we could move into our flat and all of our possessions were still in storage. I devoured those books in a day, mentally planning out a garden.

I advise anyone I know who takes on an allotment to spend the winter months reading as many gardening books as possible, taking notes and formulating ideas, then they can start the growing season with confidence and a plan. That’s the brilliant thing about gardening, you don’t need to go to college to be able to learn enough to have a beautiful garden and productive allotment. But are there the books out there to teach and inspire gardeners? If anyone has been to the RHS bookshop at Wisley it would be hard to say there isn’t enough choice. Some subjects have been covered more than others in recent years. The popularity of urban gardens and allotments mean there are container books and grow your own fruit and vegetable books galore. But this isn’t unusual, it happens with anything that has become popular, authors and publishers are simply capturing the zeitgeist of recent times.

I don’t think there is much doubt that the internet will have an impact, if it has not done so already, on gardening reference books. I’m much more likely whilst I’m writing to search online if I need information quickly. But, when I’m in the garden and I’m not sure how to prune a particular plant or I’m wondering which pest is chomping on the leaves in front of me it’s a book I’ll turn to. When my hands are covered in soil, I need some tips quickly and I’m gingerly tiptoeing through the kitchen trying not to shower everywhere with compost a book is much more forgiving than a computer keyboard. Perhaps the reference book’s days aren’t numbered just yet.

Complaints about gardening books seem to focus on the idea that many books are ‘celebrity’ driven, that books are aimed at too broad an audience and books are too often pitched at the non-experienced gardener. All these factors are driven by economics; is a book commercially viable? Perhaps it’s unpalatable but the reality is that publishers need to produce books which will sell well if they are to at very least recoup their costs. It shouldn’t then be any surprise that authors with a TV presence prove to be popular with publishers. They already have a large audience of fans and potential buyers. There are books by well-known faces which make me wonder what else are they offering but a ‘celebrity’ author doesn’t have to mean a lack of substance or knowledge. Alys Fowler and James Wong are both hugely knowledgeable and have inspired young and old alike to look at food and plants in a different way. Some of my own favourite gardening books are by Carol Klein, a gardener and writer who exudes enthusiasm for her subject, and Monty Don writes thoughtfully about connecting with the soil and nature. To dismiss these writers simply because they are on TV would mean missing out on some great reading.

Go to a publisher with what they consider a niche idea for a book and if they can’t make the figures add up then you’ll be unlikely to get it commissioned. There’s the option for an author to self-publish but it isn’t an easy option. New avenues are opening up such as Unbound but to get the money you would still need a profile of some description to gain funding from the public.

Working out where to pitch a book can be tricky too. Don’t write about the basics and you could exclude those new to the subject and not provide a comprehensive coverage of a topic, include the basics and you risk annoying the more experienced gardener who thinks ‘Blah, blah, blah, I know all this already’. Certainly what I have learnt from gardening is that no matter how experienced you are someone else may have a tip or sliver of information, however simple, that you haven’t thought of or come across before.

The other problem is the value put on writing itself. In a world where free content is increasing are people willing to pay for creativity any more? Few people would probably say they like advertising but it makes paid for content possible in magazines and newspapers. I remember an interview with Ian Hislop where he explained why Private Eye hadn’t gone down the route of free online content. He said he had explained to his children that if they ever wanted a job in the creative industries how would they ever earn a living if their work was given away for free. The perceptions of worth seem to be changing too? I overheard a couple complaining about the price of a book in a shop recently. It was the same price as the the bottles of wine they had in their trolley but they obviously didn’t see the value in a book they could go back to again and again. Creating a book is time-consuming, in some cases it can feel as if it has taken over your life. Unfortunately advances don’t cover the true time spent creating the book and so the author waits, hoping they’ve made something people want to buy. The phrase ‘deferred gratification’ couldn’t be more apt than for writing a book. More knowledgeable gardeners may crave specialist books. But the more niche a book the less of an audience and the less likely the author is ever to be rewarded for their efforts. And so, in the immortal words of ABBA ‘Money, Money, Money’ is the driving force. Whether it’s authors needing to make some sort of living and having to make compromises, whether it’s publishers needing to turn a profit and whether it’s consumers making choices with how and where they spend their own cash.

It’s quite a gloomy prospect, particularly for a new author but I didn’t want to end on such a negative thought because I do think there are some fabulously interesting and inspiring books out there. So here are my suggestions for useful and inspiring garden reading:

• I love all of Carol Klein’s books but my favourite is ‘Grow Your Own Garden’. A subject which could be dry and dull but this is neither. Informative and enjoyable with useful tables at the back for quick reference.
• Monty Don’s ‘The Jewel Garden’. He writes with a passion and eloquence about the making of his garden, the depression he suffers from and how the connection with the soil helps to heal him.
• Cleve West’s ‘Our Plot‘. A celebration of allotments this isn’t a ‘how to grow’ book but with a plethora of those to choose from anyway this is no bad thing. Should be required reading for planners who should understand how important spaces for growing are in our communities.
• Alan Titchmarsh ‘How to be a Gardener’ and the ‘Complete Gardener’. I would recommend these to any first time gardener. Packed full of information to start you on a lifetime of gardening.
• Anything by Alys Fowler and Mark Diacono for their fresh approaches to writing and growing.
• Charles Dowding’s ‘Salad Leaves for all Seasons’. This man knows his stuff. Ditch the supermarket salad bags of soggy leaves and grow your own.
• Other favourites include Val Bourne’s Ten Minute Gardener books, any of Anna Pavord’s books and Elspeth Thompson’s writing.

I’d love to hear what you think about gardening books. Which are your favourites, the authors you love and what books you would like to see published in the future?

National Allotment Week – My Plot

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Cleve West, National Allotment Week, Our Plot

To mark National Allotment Week (6th – 12th August) I thought I’d pay homage to my own plot.

It’s only 20 metres by 6 metres (60ft by 18ft) and, other than the paths I’ve put in, is nothing more than a simple patch of ground. It lies on the edge of the village and is only a 5 minute walk from my home. It may well just be a humble bit of soil but there aren’t many other things that give me so much pleasure in life and all for the bargain price of £10 a year.

My allotment

I have had my plot for just over 18 months now but it has become such a fixture in my life. It is a place to escape to. I live in a village but houses and gardens are still squeezed in and barking dogs, mowers and strimmers and those cursed trampolines, can mean that sometimes my back garden is not quite the tranquil retreat I envisaged. My plot, although next to a busy road is somewhere I’m rarely troubled by the sort of noises that drive me to distraction. I can happily potter away lost in a kind of meditation of plants and soil. Wellyman knows when I say I’m off to the plot and that I won’t be long, to expect me back several hours later.

It might only be a small bit of land but it has given me the opportunity to grow so many different plants, many more than I would have ever been able to do so at home; provide tasty, healthy produce for the kitchen and has allowed me to indulge in my love of cut flowers. It’s somewhere to get fresh air and exercise, somewhere to meet and chat with others.

My plot this summer

For someone who feels a little rootless, having left my native north-east 15 years ago and moved around a lot over the subsequent years, it is, strangely, the allotment that has made me feel like I have an attachment to somewhere, more so than my home and garden. I have no idea why this is so. With yet more rumbles of restructuring and redundancy at Wellyman’s place of work it got me thinking the other day about the possibility of having to move again. And the thought that saddened me the most was the idea of giving up my plot. Possibly because I know how difficult it is to find houses with decent sized gardens and that the chances of easily getting an allotment somewhere else would be slim. It is, hopefully, something I won’t have to do but it made me realise how the idea of giving people the opportunity to have some land, albeit small, can be so incredibly empowering and meaningful. And it’s something that goes across cultural boundaries. I loved reading in Cleve West’s book Our Plot about the different nationalities that have allotments on his site in London, proving it’s not just us eccentric Brits who appreciate the opportunities allotments can bring, and that the desire to grow is universal.

I love the structure of my plot and how growing there differs so much from in my garden. My garden often frustrates the perfectionist in me, when it doesn’t quite look how I imagined it would. The allotment, on the other hand, doesn’t have to live up to such expectations; it is purely about production. I can grow different flowers together I would never dream of growing in the garden because their colours would clash. I can pick buckets of sweet peas and not worry that the plants will look bare. I can net and fleece and not care that the plot looks like Miss Havisham’s house in Great Expectations because I don’t have to stare at it whilst I’m doing the washing up.

The view from my allotment

There’s a great view across to the Monmouthshire hills and the easterly parts of the Brecon Beacon National Park from the allotment. As the days, weeks and months pass the seasons change and so to does the view from the plot. From the first signs of spring, the daffodils lining the road and green returning to the hills, to the shafts of summer light poking through clouds and casting shadows across the fields and the mellowness of autumn, the bleached blond fields and the light, lower on the horizon. Even in winter, there is a beauty to my visits to the plot. Mists roll in and snow covers the hills in the distance.

So, in this National Allotment Week, I raise a glass to my plot.

Book Review – Our Plot by Cleve West

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allotments, Chelsea, Cleve West, peak oil

When I found out I had been allocated an allotment at the start of this year I tried to get hold of as many books about allotments and growing fruit and vegetables as possible. It wasn’t long before I felt I was reading the same information, going over the same ground. Our Plot is something different and I loved it.

The book is the personal story of the author Cleve West and his allotment experiences over the last 10 years. Cleve is a respected garden designer who won a gold medal and ‘Best in Show’ at Chelsea this year. I first came across him when he wrote a gardening column in The Independent but this is his first book and I loved his style so much, I hope he writes more.

Our Plot is less a book about how to grow, as he says, there are plenty of these types of books available, and more a celebration of allotments, the people he has met, the produce he grows and the creativity he can express on his bit of land.

I enjoyed his honesty. He doesn’t gloss over the problems that come with having an allotment; the hard work and time constraints, vandalism and not being able to go out of your back door and pick your produce. He admits there are times they’d rather buy stuff from the supermarket.

The photographs are beautiful with their rich, sumptuous colours and there are some lovely bits of humour in the stories about his fellow allotment holders. The photo of Mrs Luu and her giant pumpkin made me smile (you’ll have to buy the book to see what I mean). My plot is on a small rural site, unlike Cleve’s urban site and I was more that a little envious of the exotic mix of plot holders and produce, the open days and not to mention Cleve’s 4 sheds.

There are sections on wildlife and recipes which add another dimension. Cleve also highlights problems which we will face in the future such as ‘peak oil’ and how allotments could help.

This is a touching, heart-warming book which managed to make me, as a novice plot holder feel better about my first year’s attempts but also has inspired me to keep going. Cleve has captured everything that is special about allotments as he says ‘being there is as important as what ends up on the pate’. This is a must read.

Available now. Go to Amazon. Thanks to Amanda at Frances Lincoln Publishers.