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19 July 2001
All About Alice, the show garden inspired by the famous 'Alice in Wonderland' books by Lewis Carroll, has been awarded an RHS GOLD MEDAL and RHS BEST IN SHOW Show Garden at this year's RHS Tatton Show.
This esoteric garden created by housebuilder Countryside Properties PLC and Cheshire Life Magazine has certainly attracted the crowds and Countryside Properties' Landscape Director, David Fountain who designed the garden is delighted with the award and the public's response to his All About Alice garden.
"I genuinely loved creating this garden," he said. "It was great fun working with giant teacups, top hats and of course characters such as the Cheshire Cat. Visitors of all ages seemed genuinely delighted with the garden and, of course, children at the Show were in their element."
Pop singer turned gardening expert Kim Wilde helped David select many of the wildflower plants for the garden on the upper level. Its wild woodland planting serves as a colourful backdrop for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Tea is set on a natural tablecloth of mixed grass, sedges, rushes and wildflowers. The Queen's croquet lawn has also been made from wild flowers whilst the four playing card symbols are formed using clipped Euonymus surrounded by low box hedging.
Features of the garden include giant teacups, a teapot and a Mad Hatter's top hat carved from natural wood by sculptor Dennis Heath. A croquet mallet, hoop and ball woven from willow from Liverpool based designer, Alexandra James illustrated the surreal croquet game whilst the Cheshire Cat was found hiding in a 200-year-old oak tree.
This is the second gold medal for David Fountain who was also awarded a gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show earlier in the year. He has been in charge of the Landscaping Department at Countryside Properties for several years and during that time has received a vast array of landscaping and environmental awards, including recognition from experts such as David Bellamy for designing and implementing Parkland schemes incorporating large lakes, reed beds, wildflower meadows and woodlands.
Alan Cherry MBE, Chairman of Countryside Properties PLC, said: "Our congratulations go to David and the team who have worked so hard to create this wonderful garden. It's been a great Show and as a Company with a regional base in Warrington, as well as two flagship developments in Cheshire, we are delighted that the Lewis Carroll links with the county have been such a success."
Countryside Properties is renowned for building innovative and traditional new homes throughout England and Wales. The Company's commitment to the environment means that almost 80 % of its developments are located on brownfield land, and more than 500,000 trees and shrubs are planted each year".
Patrick O'Neill, Editor of Cheshire Life Magazine, believes the garden truly deserves its gold medal accolade. "As the county's top lifestyle magazine we have seen our fair share of unique gardens," he said. "I believe even Lewis Carroll himself would have approved!"
When the Show is over, Countryside Properties intends to donate various items from the All About Alice garden to the Warrington Peace Centre. Children from war torn countries across the world will then be able to enjoy the fantasies created by David Fountain and inspired by Lewis Carroll.
David Fountain concludes: "It seems that Alice in Wonderland continues to enchant people of all ages. We are thrilled that the RHS has acknowledged the hard work and imagination of everyone involved in All About Alice. The only problem I have now is deciding on a theme for the 2002 RHS Tatton show garden. All About Alice will be hard to beat."
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Information correct as at 19/07/2001