Southport Flower Show 2007

I am delighted to be working alongside Tatton Gold Medal winning designer Andy Kirman on a show garden for Southport 2007. This is a unique garden

Proposed design for Southport Flower Show; August 16th to 19th 2007:

The theme for the 2007 show was ‘Music’. From the start, Andy’s idea was for music to be the driving force behind the garden concept. This ended up being taken literally as the water feature within the open water area at the front of the garden is powered directly by music making the water dance! This technical piece of wizardry has been created by Paul Marshall from BingBangBong.

Paul has been fascinated by the effect of sound on different substances for years; this collaborative project with Andy offers the opportunity to put into practise a long term design to make water dance using only sound. The phenomenon is called cymatics. The water ‘dances’ to a specially composed soundtrack. This soundtrack is designed to bring out a range of patterns and dynamics in the water.

Like many of my designs, the garden is an outdoor room in a contemporary style which is not only chic but practical and most of all a space to chill out.

I enjoy the challenge of using both interesting and traditional materials in innovative ways within gardens. This garden is no exception. Recycled CD’s form a bridge across the moat to the decking, brightly coloured resin bound material covers thelower deck area whilst the back and side walls are made of screens to replace traditional fencing panels.  Marbles are used both decoratively and as a safety device to warn people under foot when they are near the edge of the decking.

The planting is a mixture of architectural foliage and colourful perennials in oranges and browns, with floating plants carried by the flow around the moat on an endless journey. Even the low level coffee table has interesting planting within it.