It is SO MUCH FUN!  I wish I could do this all the time.  Have to say the show manager Mandy and her whole team have been so supportive to everyone – its made it all so much easier.  In fact it makes for a lovely atmosphere.  None of the usual ‘event problems’ so far!  The only downside is the fact the only usable toilets are a good 500m away from our site.  So I’m averaging 10miles of walking to and from loos a day.  On my many frequent trips, I am attracting a few odd looks.  Females are definitely in the minority here this week and heavily pregnant ones even less so.

So on this first week of the build, the emphasis is on the hard landscaping and next week is all about the planting.  So far, despite the odd very prolonged and heavy rain ‘shower’ and gusty winds, massive progress has been made.  We’ve marked out the site, dug it out, put up the mirrored boundary and put in the floor sub base.  The next couple of days are all about the floor and then we’re onto the aerial structure as of tomorrow.

I love the way I am saying ‘we’.  What I should say is ‘the guys’ – this week that’s David, Leigh (Lovely Legs) and Nick from Neale Richards Ltd (our landscape contractor), Lysanne and Vicky who are the amazingly ‘hard working, perfectionist,  couldn’t live without’ volunteer helpers and last but by no means least my ‘always there for me’ brother James and parents, Pat and Peter.   And what a wonderful team they are!

I am sitting under a very anchored down gazebo on tea duty (my role is a sad state of affairs but at least I am cupboard loved for bringing cake everyday).

Yesterday I took the plunge and invested in a massive 6m x 12m marquee to cover the entire garden interior.  With typical Wimbledon rain showers upon us I can’t risk the floor not being done to schedule.  Gus from Concreations has just turned up and so its all go, go, go, on the innovative ‘micro’ concrete flooring.

So what’s it like being on the build site?  Well as I look around now I see a hive of activity.  Generators mask any bird song, the wind is whipping the multiple gazebos dotted around the site and all I can see are breeze blocks, mounds of soil, spades, wheel barrows and trees lying on their sides.   And of course, I should mention, there are lots of ‘strapping young lads’ fetching, carrying, building as well as quite a few on permanent builders tea breaks.

All the concept gardens are coming along nicely.  There are some great concepts this year – makes me feel quite inadequate and nervous.  But everyone really is very friendly.  There’s lots of water sharing, lending a helping hand and appreciation of other’s talents, going on.  We’re becoming quite a community.

Right I better go and photograph the cover going on the marquee.  It should be interesting in the wind.  More to come soon xxx

PS.  I would say that I’m very happy with progress, but I’m still having those nagging Agapanthus flowering worries… please let it be okay…will find out tomorrow morning when I visit Hardys.

Our piece, which tracks our journey to get ready for the show, is going out on the preview programme on Monday 4th July (I think).

I didn’t quite realise how long these things take.  I think our piece will be 4 minutes but the filming took a day and there’s more filming to come at the show when the garden’s built.  With the sun frequently disappearing behind clouds and previously unnoticed sound of aeroplanes flying overhead, it meant that it was very stop-start.  That was fine by me.  Is it bad to admit that I loved the whole experience?  I don’t think I’ll be saying that when I actually see myself on the programme.  Maybe I just won’t watch it so my bubble isn’t burst.

We had a great film crew and far from being tiring, it was very relaxing.   My dad, waiting to be filmed building the boundary, was perhaps more than a little nervous at first, which is not a side of him I’m familiar with, but that soon wore off. And maybe even the crew had a good time – my mum certainly helped with her home-made scones (yes for all who know her – home-made I promise – definitely not Waitrose – far more superior), sandwiches and tea on tap.

I’m glad too there wasn’t much mentioned on the fact I’m now heavily pregnant with twins.  It would take away from the focus on the garden.  I suppose  there is a risk that I may not make it to the show but its not something I’m thinking about as I’m sure it will be fine.  I think others are more worried about this than me.  My conversation with Caroline from the BBC went like this.  Call one.  What if you have the twins early – what happens then?  Answer – they won’t it will be fine.  Call two.  I just need to be sure, if you go into labour, who will do the garden? David our contractor, my dad and Ann-Marie Powell.   Call three.  Have you bought any baby clothes?  Answer – no not yet.

Seriously I am going to hang myself upside down if there is the slightest hint the little bubs feel the pull of gravity getting too much.  Anyway – they’re having far too much fun tap dancing, playing football, boxing each other and generally letting me know they’re happy in my bump.  Incidentally we’ve nicknamed them Fred and Ginger.

There are 24 gardens to see and it takes a good 3 or 4 hours to wander around.  Whilst they are all executed well, some are better than others as you would expect at a show (and of course its all down to personal opinion).

For me, the big take out from the day was how the different gardens make you ‘feel’ governs whether they are successful or not. Some gardens didn’t effect me at all, in fact I just felt disappointed and unsure what they were trying to convey.

Some gardens made you feel sad, empty, almost uncomfortable in their appearance, but at least that was part of the intention (I hope!).   The big theme for the show this year is Biodiversity and the Future of Gardens.   So many gardens had stark warning messages; ‘we must amend our ways now or this may be our future’.  The most effective gardens, were those that excited me in their clever execution, they looked beautiful even if, for some, they had negative messages to convey.  Not all were doom and gloom!  Here were my top 5:

• Garden 2 – Sculptillonnage, designed by Corinne Julhiet-Detroyat and Claude Pasquer
• Garden 11 – Handle with care, designed by Jeroen Jacobs and Maarten Jacobs
• Garden 13 – The nature of things, designed by Soline Portmann, Aurélie Zita and Mioko Tanaka
  
• Garden 15 – Between sky and earth, designed by Wang Xiangrong
• Garden 20 – The Take Away Garden, designed by Steve Papps, Jo Chapman and Jackie Bennett

I set this as a mission for friends and family. They have been amazing and there’s a lot to be said about word of mouth (thanks especially to Josie and Barney and all the residents of Taggs Island for their kind contribution). But one lady has really saved the day. My mother-in-law. She’s been trawling the local junk sales in Penzance and it has to be said has acquired 80% of the tools required. Some are really unusual. She’s certainly saved my other half, Hugo, from a lot of Ebay and Freecycle searches and driving round the country to pick them up.

The next job is to paint them silver. Hugo has been painting a few every night or whenever he has a spare hour (which isn’t often). It’s a massive job and he’s been working away religiously. I feel terrible not helping but due to being pregnant I’m having to come to terms with the limits of what I can and cannot do. I think that’s been the hardest thing about this whole project and I have to say I’m dreading the build in that respect.

It has to be said though that when silver they look fantastic. They look great in our entrance way against a white wall so we may use them to create a wall sculpture after the show. There’s still many more to go silver and very little time to do it so I feel a painting party coming on the weekend of 11-12th June.

And here’s another worry I think I have combated. After waking up in the middle night in a cold sweat realising that after spending hours filling out the form for the health and safety I had just focused on the build and breakdown and not the show itself (which as the general public are involved, is even more important). With over a hundred garden tools being hung on it and another 100 plants, I decided that even though I hadn’t the budget, I would get a structural engineer to check the structure, to ensure the weight bearing capacity and forces that were being applied would be all fine. I could then pin down a specification for the star shape wire structure from which I plan to hang the upside down pots. Jason from Expositionists (the company I am hiring the gantry from) has been a complete legend in helping me with this aspect. He’s gone way beyond the call of duty – maybe he’s a bit taken with this very wacky project. If anyone ever needs staging equipment – go to him is all I can say.

Now what to do with all the materials in the garden? I want them to go to good homes, not get dumped on a skip. What’s up for grabs? Beautiful Agapanthus, Hostas and Ferns, painted garden tools, mirrors and exterior ply wood. Anyone want any of these? For the plants I’m offering them all at £3 each for those that want to put their name down. You’ll have to collect them from me in Putney or the show on Sunday 10th July evening. Same goes for the tools, mirrors and wood except you can have them for free. Feel free to email us with what you want at info@bestique.co.uk.

The journey to find the right plants and plant supplier for the garden started long ago. This has been the bit I’ve enjoyed the most but also the bit I am finding most scary. The effect I want to create on the ground is that of a mass of planting – starry or globe shapes that on closer inspection are unique and different from their neighbour in their own right (in a similar way to a starry sky at night). My first choice way back when I designed the garden was to opt for Echinops. Their wonderful blue globe forms in such a mass would work and they should be in flower for Hampton Court. But when I got my feedback from the RHS, they said they must be mature and good quality, which immediately rang alarm bells in my head. After some more research I found that it would be very difficult to achieve what I wanted to achieve with Echinops because they have tap roots and therefore don’t like being moved and aren’t really grown to maturity in pots. They would need to be field grown over two years perhaps, advised the lovely and VERY experienced, Rosy Hardy of Hardy Cottage Plants.

So with some more research I have opted for Agapanthus and chosen Agapanthus ‘Blue Heaven’ which really sits well with the ‘blue sky thinking’ theme.

In terms of the aerial planting this posed a bit of challenge. First and foremost they need to be the kind of plants that are likely to tolerate being hung upside down. Not a natural position for many plants. The easy option would be to have gone for typical hanging basket plants but it goes against what I am trying to achieve. I wanted plants that look good from above. The sort, that if you gaze down from a second storey bedroom window, you admire their qualities.  As soon as you hang the plants upside down they are in the shade or part shade but then the mirrored boundary will throwing up plenty of light so they need to work in this unusual environment. My other criteria was that they were textural, simple with accents of sky colours – blue, yellow, perhaps white that worked together to form a beautiful ceiling carpet. Last but not least they need to be in flower or looking their best in July. Not too many considerations then. It’s been a really challenging and enjoyable journey to find the right plants that fit all my criteria.   With predominantly a mixture of hostas and ferns I hope I will achieve it.

The pots I am using for the upside down planting are Boskke Sky Planters, specially designed for plants to hang upside down. They can be used both inside and out but so far they have mainly been marketed as interior features. They are ingenious as they have in integral water tank with a little stick that indicates when it needs filling up. I am using pots from the new recycled range as part of their launch.

Last week I went to Hardy’s and spent a very enjoyable morning with Rosy and Hilary planting up the pots.  Some of the plants are very small so in my mind they are on AMBER alert. I’m going back at the end of next week to do a final check on them and to lay out the plants to check my planting plan (it will be easier than doing it when we hang them upside down 4 metres above our heads.

I just can’t stop the nagging worry that the Agapanthus may not flower in time or the hanging plants won’t be big enough.  Most things you can control but plants…..   Typical first show nerves no doubt.   Oh please plant worries go away – I need some sleep.

I went down to Hampton Court to meet Mandy the show manager. They had marked out where the site is going to be and how big – and big it is!!! So exciting!!!

The garden flooring has been a bit of a journey too. I want it to represent a ‘thoughtful’ sky – and for that I really wanted it to be seamless so not slabs or tiles. My first thought for a potential material was resin with sparkly aggregate set within it to be suggestive of a starry sky, but exterior applications are difficult when wet. Then I thought perhaps concrete flooring would work but I felt uncomfortable with its eco credentials, especially when it will be only used for one week.

After a bit of searching I came across and interesting product called ‘micro concrete’. It is applied like paint in layers of colour. It has the same aesthetic appeal as concrete but without it being a massive slab of material. It can be applied to all kinds of surfaces – walls, floors, showers etc – both inside and out. It is pretty flexible too and very strong. So a lovely guy called Gus at Concreations is creating our floor for Hampton Court. We’ve had a few attempts at getting the colours right.

Blue I have learnt is a difficult colour to work with and even the trial samples may be difficult to replicate at scale especially if it’s hot. Gus has had plenty of practice and I think for him it’s more of an art than a trade so I’m confident it will be fine when we come to create the floor in reality. So am I using this blog as a form of therapy to air all my worries. If so, here’s my worry with the floor. It has to be applied to a sub base so I worry that if its not completely rigid that the floor may crack – oh my goodness that’s a middle of the night worry.

And I guess you might be wondering how my ol’ dad is faring. After finishing cutting all the bits for boundary fence and stacking them ready for pick up with the aid of my mum. ‘We’ (I) thought that it would make sense to i) paint the undercoat layers and first colour coat of the back panels ii) glue the mirrors onto the interior faces – that way we could control the humidity issue when applying.

These boards are huge and heavy and paint only dries so quick, so he’s had to do them in batches of 4 at a time with the aid of my mum to help him carry them outside and then back in when they’re done. It’s another massive task but it will be a real time saver when it comes to the build weeks on site.

A big motivational plus was the timely call from the BBC to say that they would like to film him making the boundary for a piece on the garden. He’s stoked (and so am I)! So’s my mum. She’s already planning the lunch she’s going to make for the film crew who are going to be there all day.

The mirrors have been supplied by Aaron at Sheet Plastics. They are 3mm acrylic panels, almost 2.5m by 1.5m. We have 23 of them. They have been cut exactly to size with laser cutters. We were so relieved when my Dad told me that they fitted perfectly. We’re going to help my Dad fix them all to the boards in a couple of weekends time so fingers crossed the weather is good.

And finally this week I’ve been sorting out voluntary workers to help with the construction, planting and hosting of the garden during show week. It really is a family and friend affair this whole project. I am so grateful to all my family and friends for their willingness to help and the way they’ve got so behind the project. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I couldn’t do it without you and I hope the garden does all your efforts and support proud.

As I’ve gone through the planning process for the show, I have thanked my luck stars on a daily basis that I went for this strategy.  Going forward I am going to do the same for all future projects.

A couple of weeks back for example, I received a pack in the post from the RHS.  Inside were just a few sleepless nights – sorry – a heavy show guide manual and a book (no less) of forms to fill out in the run up to the flower show.

In a previous life I worked on some pretty big events where I spent many a day working through the intricacies of health and safety and the various red tape elements of building an event.   But for some reason that has all been hidden in some dark recess of my brain and I still felt pretty unsure about filling out all the various forms.

Only just ever so slightly daunted by the prospect of the forms I thought I would call our landscape contractor for the show – David Neale (of Neale Richards Ltd) to see if he would be my saviour.  David and Leigh did a show garden last year so I figured they wouldn’t have the same feeling of dread that I had.

Saviour he has been.  He understood my dread or was it closer to panic, having had a similar reaction to mine last year.   So we met up last week on a glorious morning just outside Reading, at the Thrive headquarters (the garden charity) where David and Leigh are currently building some gardens.

Despite the heat in the makeshift greenhouse office, it took us no time at all to get through the 30 odd forms and in the process ironed out a few final details for the build which will start in less than two months time.  With a large part of the admin out of the way (I hope), I can’t wait!

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The single most worrying element of our concept garden at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show has been the ‘sky’s the limit’ boundary fence.  It’s huge – 2m high, just over 1.75m deep and spans a 12 m diameter.  All in all you will have to walk over 28m to walk its perimeter.

When I designed the garden it was a project; I never dreamt that I would be making it a reality.  Cost was not on my agenda at that point.

Over the last two months there have been many moments when this boundary has jeopardised the project.  There have been quite a few nights where I’ve lain awake in the small hours wondering whether or not to back out as it seemed just too cost prohibitive.   The initial idea was that the mirrored edge would be curved not just in one direction but two.  The first quote I got back was well over my total budget for the whole garden.  So I had to rethink.  Making the curve multi-faceted rather than a pure curve has brought the boundary within the realms of possibility.

Who could I trust implicitly to make this behemoth structure, accurately and of the quality I need it to be?  And at a reasonable cost?  My long suffering Dad.

I remember phoning him up a few weeks ago, discussing it with him, knowing his initial reaction would be one of barriers and problems as he worked through the problems to find a solution that can be done.  Humouring him whilst he ruminated, I remember wondering whether he would fancy the project himself (my real intention) or just offer advice.  Thank goodness he fell for my poorly veiled plan to get him involved.

So today after ordering his shopping list last Friday, a big lorry turned up at my childhood home with a stack of wood that took 3 hours to move just half of it.

Today a milestone has been reached. My Dad has started building with great gusto and excitement (as it is apparently a bit more straightforward than fitting my sister’s kitchen).

He had better slow down or it will be done by the weekend and then I’ll have to find him another job… yes please I hear my mum say.

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