Upwardly Mobile – wins GOLD medal
John Woods Nurseries, the Suffolk-based national supplier of plants to garden centres and retail nurseries across the UK, has created Upwardly Mobile, an eye-catching front garden concept on display at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The project has also benefited from the specialist skills of landscape garden design partnership, DEAKINLOCK, also based in Suffolk.
Artists impression of the Upwardly Mobile garden
Developed for Sunflower Street – a special feature at the show sponsored by The Sun and comprising six front garden designs – Upwardly Mobile will showcase plants from the company’s Endless Summer and First Editions ranges amongst others. Plot sizes on Sunflower Street are 5m x 5m and are backed by a house front to capture visitors’ imagination. At the end of the show, key elements of Upwardly Mobile will relocate to the National Gardening Centre at Capel Manor College to occupy a larger plot of 11m x 7m. Here key elements will evolve into a family-friendly back garden, supported by the rear facade of a modern contemporary family home.
The theme of the Upwardly Mobile garden is to demonstrate how easy it is to create a garden – especially your first – and take components of it, such as planted containers, with you when you move home. In this way, you take your ideas and learning with you throughout life. The idea for the project arose from discussions between John Lord, managing director at John Wood Nurseries and The Sun’s gardening correspondent and renowned expert, Peter Seabrook, who is working closely with the company on the project.
Cornus Venus
The garden incorporates some great plants from John Woods Nurseries. Drawing on the company’s broad range, the designers have made wide use of the Endless Summer range of repeat-flowering Hydrangeas, in particular the new lace-cap Twist ‘n’ Shout. From the First Editions range will be the evergreens, Coprosma Pacific Sunset and the first ever variegated Diervilla, US-developed Cool Splash, showing how to brighten up those dry shady areas. Complementing these is the striking Cornus VenusTM, recognisable by its large creamy-white bracts which appear for up to three weeks from mid to late May.
Capel Manor College in Enfield, north London, is the UK’s National Gardening Centre and home to 30 display gardens based on typical urban garden plot size. Every year, some 60,000 people visit Capel Manor College to get new ideas and inspiration for their gardens. Writers, broadcasters and photographers also use Capel Manor College as a reference point.
The relocation of Upwardly Mobile to Capel Manor College represents the point when the hypothetical new gardeners decide to move to a larger property and recreate their garden at their new home. The project aims to demonstrate how easy this can be with versatile plants and flexible garden design. Upwardly Mobile will remain at Capel Manor College.
Says John Lord, managing director at John Woods Nurseries, “Upwardly mobile will show how easy it is to create kerb-to-frontage appeal to a home with original front garden design. It’s quite new to put the focus on front gardens, but their contribution to saleability when marketing a home cannot be underestimated. Similarly, we’re aiming to show that gardening doesn’t need to be complicated. We’ll be using plants that are happy in different types of soils and situations, for example, to help inexperienced gardeners understand their options. Upwardly Mobile will also feature plants that are widely available from garden centres throughout the UK and pots that enable special plants to be moved from one garden to another. In this way, people can enjoy the fruits of their growing gardening know-how and achievements, no matter how often they move house. This is particularly true with the Easy Care plants we’ve selected for this project.”
More information: www.johnwoodsnurseries.co.uk and www.endlesssummerblooms.com
