As to be expected, the Chelsea gardens were awash with great features and ideas to take home. This post will highlight a few of my personal favourites. The above image shows Jo Thompson's caravan 'Doris' which was a true hit at the show. Doris, although vintage, is incredibly modern with her shiny exterior and works so well as an alternative to a garden room or shed. Jo's 'Celebration of Caravanning' for The Caravan Club also included a gorgeous little wooden dog kennel (just visible on the left of the above image) with a green roof that included Alpine Strawberries. The kennel had it's own down-pipe that harvests rainwater, which then flows in to a dog bowl. A brilliant idea.
The hammock, pictured above, is again taken from Jo Thompson's garden 'Celebration of Caravanning' . Created by Carmel Meade, this hammock is beautifully crafted and positioned to avoid the heat of the day. A place to read or snooze perhaps?
Not strictly a garden item as such, but Georgie Newberry's beautiful button holes were out of this world and I wore mine with pride on press day. Georgie, who runs Common Farm Flowers, also provided the cut flowers for Jo Thompson's garden.
Jo Swift's: 'Homebase Teenage Cancer Trust Garden' had several features that I adored and this stone water feature (above) was my favorite. I like how the water rises up through the stone and flows rather informally along its surface before trickling over in to the rusty edged pool.
Another chunky stone water feature could be found in the Veolia Water 'Naturally Dry' garden, designed by Vicky Harris Garden Design. This really is a dream-worthy feature for me and something I would take home in an instant. I loved the way that water is collected in the stone trough after trickling down the rusty chains attached to the roof. Not a new feature but it really works well.
A garden that attracted a lot of attention was the 'Satoyama Life' garden from the Ishihara Kazuyuki Design Laboratory. Moss balls were a constant feature throughout the garden but I loved the use of it on the garden shed/room.
Vertical pillars made of pudding stone and planted with ferns looked splendid in 'The Renault Garden' by James Basson. One of the new "Fresh" gardens, Basson utilised recycled materials and used fantastic informal lighting to weave in between upright planting.
Titled 'Glamourlands: a Techno-Folly' this RHS sponsored garden with Heywood & Condie certainly stood out. I loved the pure fantasy that this garden portrayed and the bejewelled sculpture that had a distinct octopus-like quality.
