The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, held annually in London, is the most significant event that dictates landscaping trends around the world. This year, in 2017, several Lithuanians traveled there, and after their trips, we created a series of three interviews.
We present to you our third interview. This time we spoke to a landscape designer Ruta Žiugždewho shared his impressions and photos of the exhibition. Meet Rūta and see the exhibition through his eyes:
Lina Liubertaitė: Why did you decide to go to the exhibition this year? What is your overall impression of her?
Ruta Žiugždė: I visited the Chelsea Flower Show for the first time in 2009. And this flower show left a unique impression on me. Every year I would have liked to return, but only this year was I able to combine exhibition and study: I am currently deepening my knowledge at The English Gardening School. It is the world’s highest level landscape and plant design exhibition, inaugurated by the Queen of England, where the world’s most famous designers, growers and plant breeders present their work. The exhibition attracts visitors from all continents, but is especially popular with the English themselves: they are truly passionate gardeners and come to the exhibition as a celebration from the most remote corners of England.
Lina: Tell me how the winning garden turned out when you saw it in person?
Ruth: When I arrived at the show I already knew who had been announced as Best in Show and the other nominees, I had seen the photos, read about them. I must admit I couldn’t hear the winner, James and Helen Basson’s garden, which mimics the limestone quarry in Malta. And only after two days of reflection did I understand how he saw it.
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Best in Show is chosen based on these main factors: design, layout, quality of building and planting, but what sets a gold medal winner apart from the rest? James Alexander-Sinclair, an experienced judge of the Chelsea Flower Show, shares: «You’re looking for something fresh and interesting in design, for someone who approaches the rectangular space in a unique manner. And you also want new and interesting plants. The key is to do everything extremely well – and do it better than the others.»
This is a Best in Show garden; it’s not meant for every home, it’s a concept, a direction we should pursue. Mr. Basson’s concept is not groundbreaking anymore; it’s more of a repetition, but each good repetition and model helps shape our viewpoint, a certain style, when people act positively because they enjoy it, and not due to restrictions. It’s an idea of sustainability, living with local resources and plants. Naturally, those plants will need less water, less fertilizer, and using local materials won’t need transportation, thus we will help protect the environment around us.
Similar to the start of the «local food» trend in 2007, when restaurants began using only local ingredients grown within a 50km distance to prepare their meals.
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To transform bare boards into a cozy terrace / Yellow wheelbarrowThis does not imply that we will stop growing roses and peonies in our garden, but it is an overall trend that is shifting our thinking.
Lina: What are your 3 favorite gardens, did you like them the most?
Ruth: My favorite this year is definitely the silver winning Artisan Garden Poetry Lover’s Garden by designer Fiona Cadwallader. Yes, because in 2009 Luciano Giubilei’s Champagne Laurent Perrier Garden won the Gold Medal but not the Best in Show.
For me personally, Poetry Lover’s Garden is characterized, firstly, by intimacy and, secondly… by shadow! The shade of this garden is provided by four lime trees, Tilia europaea ‘Euchora’, pruned into a ‘table’ shape.
Also a wonderful fountain and large plants. I would really like to read a book in this garden.
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Designing the Environment on an Empty Lot: Where to Start for SettlersAnother extremely pretty and welcoming one, although I wonder if in normal life it could be called a garden, for me it is «Yorkshire Garden». It is simply a copy of the landscape of the Yorkshire region. But in this show it’s nice to watch it, it’s nice how the boat flutters on the shore, and it’s even nicer to see how the English happily baptize around: «It’s really English!»
My third favorite is The Seedlip Garden. Again, this is very personal, I have feelings about the products and positioning of the Seedlip company. But aside from all this fun product philosophy, the garden was amazing and eye-catching: the copper pipes above the garden, the plants that Seedlip distills their drinks from, it’s all so good!
Lina: What detail or decoration used in the gardens caught your attention?
Ruth: This year, at least compared to what I saw 8 years ago, the use of artwork, aka sculptures, in the garden really caught my attention. Basically abstract, metal rings and balls, but there were some that I found really surprising.
Lina: Which plants would you choose from the exhibition that caught your attention?
Ruth: The plant pavilion at the Chelsea Flower Show is always amazing… If I had to name 3-4 plants that impressed me the most, they would be:
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A small garden, a hundred possibilities: here is a concrete example- Meconopsis «Lingholm»,
- Verbascum «Cotswold Beauty» or Verbascum «Freefolk Yellow»,
- Pyrenean valerian.
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