Show Garden for BBC Gardeners World Live, NEC.

Credits

Jean Wardrop + Alex Stevenson + Mike Long
Designers

Genesis Landscapes
Main Contractor

NEC, Birmingham, West Midlands County
Location

Silver-Gilt Medal
Garden Achievements

BBC Gardeners World Live 2015 was our first show garden and was 1 of 5 gardens showcased as part of APL (Association of Professional Landscapers) avenue. The brief was to create a small garden space into an environmentally friendly garden that encouraged wildlife to come into and move through it. The clients were specified as a retired couple who had young grandchildren that often came to visit and who also wanted to enjoy dining al fresco.

Our design solution included the creation of a dining table that could be suspended from a bespoke built pergola above. There was a winding lever to one side that would stow the table away when not in use, revealing a bird table feature made from the central leg of the table. This also created more space on the main terrace for relaxing informally. We also placed a wall-mounted BBQ that folded away when not in use, making the most of the space available.

Garden storage was created out of sight behind a slatted screen at the rear of the garden in a bespoke built timber storage container. This full shaded area of the garden was also planted with woodland foliage including Ferns and Hostas, recreating the natural environment of the local wildlife.  To successfully allow wildlife, such as hedgehogs, to move through the garden we also incorporated hedge boundaries as well as cutting in small hedgehog holes from the timber gravel boards at the bottom of the fence panels.