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25 May 2001
A Gold Medal and Best of Class at this year's Chelsea Flower Show has been awarded to the 'Garden of the Elements', a garden that is guaranteed to be like no other ever seen in the UK.
The creators of this exciting piece of art are the 2000/2001 class of the RHS 'General Certificate of Horticulture' at the London Borough of Barnet in North London. The students teamed up with award winning horticulturist David Fountain, Landscaping Director of developer Countryside Properties, who has overseen and supervised the garden's development and implementation.
The garden is tranquil yet full of energy, providing a stunning main attraction at the show, and stimulating the minds of even the least enthusiastic gardener. "We have based the theme of the garden on the four elements," explains David, "water, air, fire and earth."
Together, Countryside and the Barnet students have developed a stunning and highly innovative garden which represents a central courtyard which could be used for a hotel, office block, a modern house or a hospital. The garden has been designed to provide completely different aspects when viewed from each side and aims to stimulate and energise the senses, by evoking a connection to the individual element to which you belong, according to your astrological sign. Large, tinted panels of glass surround the garden and emphasise the differences in its various proportions and create stunning and thought provoking three-dimensional reflections. This has been the main attraction of the garden, together with the balls that are airborne above hidden pumps which create a sense of magic in the garden.
Kim Wilde, the former pop star turned horticulturalist, who has been presenting the coverage of the show for the BBC, has voted for the 'Garden of the Elements' as her personal favourite of the Show. She comments, "The garden demonstrates very clear thought and achieved exactly what it set out to do. The interest in the garden is achieved through the use of very subtle tones of green and mixing textures and forms; it is arresting without having to resort to using too many colours and flowers. The garden is very peaceful and if I was working in an office with this as a central courtyard I would find it very conducive to clear thinking."
The garden has been designed with plants that are easy to maintain and rich in texture and colour, with a subtle variation of variegated leaves, mixed in with different mauves and purples. Most of this colour is provided by foliage rather than flowers to ensure low maintenance and a soothing and relaxing ambience to the garden. The plants were supplied by Rochfords Nursery, the water features by Camps Contractors, and the highly acclaimed glazing feature by Cambridge Structures Glazing Ltd.
Countryside Properties was the Bronze medal winner at the RHS Tatton Flower Show last year, designed and supervised by Dave Fountain. It is the north of England's equivalent to the Chelsea Flower Show, and the judging is to the same high standards.
The Garden of the Elements is sponsored by Countryside Properties PLC together with the London Borough of Barnet.
For further information, see Countryside's web site at:
www.countryside-properties.com
Ends
Press information: contact: Julia Arnold at Sky Communications Ltd: 020 7731 6999
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Information correct as at 25/05/2001