Create Your Garden Vision at Tatton Park 2012

The RHS is calling on garden designers, landscapers, artists and architects to create an exclusive Visionary Garden for RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2012. This category offers the chance to break the mould and go beyond commercial garden design by pushing boundaries and using horticulture as a medium of expression, installation and art.

Show Manager, Kris Hulewicz says: “The Visionary Gardens category encourages designers to have a strong creative imagination and the foresight to deliver gardens that provide both eye-catching beauty and intellectual inspiration.”

The designers chosen by the RHS Garden Selection Panel will receive financial support of £6,000. This can be used to pay for the garden or as a contribution towards the total cost. The gardens will then be judged at the show against RHS garden criteria and will be eligible for an RHS medal.

With extensive media coverage reaching millions of people, the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park is an ideal forum at which designers can showcase and promote their portfolio.

The deadline for the return of applications is 2nd December 2011 and successful applicants will be informed by mid-January 2012.

For more information on the Visionary Gardens category, please contact the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park Manager, Kris Hulewicz on 020 7821 3335 or email krishulewicz@rhs.org.uk If you would like an application form please email exhibitorapplications@rhs.org.uk

FACTFILE:

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s foremost gardening charity, helping and inspiring millions of people to garden. We do this at our gardens and shows and through our scientific research, publications, libraries and our education and community programmes. We are entirely funded by our members, visitors and supporters.

RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in gardening. Support the RHS and secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit www.rhs.org.uk

RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262

New Garden and Landscape Design Work for cgd landscape design ltd. in Moscow Region

Having recently completed their first private garden in Rubliovka, Moscow, cgd landscape design ltd have been awarded a new contract for a 1 acre naturalistic woodland garden in the same region.

Sally Court and Helen Billetop, the designers, have gained considerable experience over the past five years in working in this inclement climate and have built up a vast knowledge of plants that will not only survive the extremes of heat and cold but will also provide a stunning display of colour over a long period.

One of their great successes was to seed a large area with a pictorial meadow mix of seeds developed by de Jager, the bulb specialists and the experts at the University of Sheffield. This display of flowers started in June and is still flowering in October, a longevity not known in this part of Russia.

It is a direct result of the creation of their first garden that this new project has been awarded. Their client is looking for a classic woodland retreat with glades, walks, naturalistic planting, wild flowers and views into the wider landscape. Both the designers, Sally and Helen are excited about this commission and are looking forward to the installation which will start in spring 2012.

A new landscape architecture and design practice brings together the creativity, expertise and experience of two of the UK's top garden designers, Helen Billetop and Sally Court, based in London, England

The practice specialises in providing a comprehensive and personalised landscape design service for private individuals and corporate clients in the UK and overseas.

With expertise in planting design across all climate zones and working with locally sourced materials and quality contractors, they are currently commissioned on several prestigious projects in the UK, Moscow, Russia and in New York State, USA.

"Our philosophy combines the functional with the artistic to create inspired and sustainable gardens and landscapes. We embrace local characteristics and conditions to develop landscape design solutions which are sympathetic and can be surprising in their simplicity," they told That's Gardening.

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Blue Peter Gardener, Chris Collins, joins MyGardenSchool to Create a Gardening Course for Children

Chris Collins becomes the latest gardening expert to join MyGardenSchool bringing outstanding expertise in horticulture for children

Perhaps the most famous face in children’s gardening, Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins, is working with MyGardenSchool to create a course on gardening for kids.

Aimed at parents and grandparents, teachers and youth workers, the course is designed to encourage the next generation of gardeners. Included in the four week online gardening course will be top gardening projects, how to grow vegetables, and top ten tips for gardening with children. The course will be available at the New Year, but it is possible to register your interest on the MyGardenSchool website now.

Chris Collins said: “There is something spiritual about our relationship with the garden, it’s a switch inside us that automatically turns on as soon as our fingers touch the soil. This is nowhere more apparent than when children nurture and grow plants. I have been working with children in the garden for six years, and I can honestly say that there isn’t a single child that’s not enjoyed it.”

As you might expect with Chris Collins at the helm, the course will be packed with engaging activity, exciting projects and practical approaches to gardening with children. “I’m really keen to get the message out about how easy it is to get kids involved in the garden, and perhaps more importantly, how very enjoyable it is – for both adults and children. That’s why I am so excited to be working with MyGardenSchool. As the courses are online it is possible for people everywhere to be able to access this information, and then get straight out in the garden with the kids and get their hands dirty.”

Gardening is increasingly being recognised as an activity of great educational and social value, and Chris is currently serving on a government committee, ‘The Growing Food in Schools Task Force’ which explores the growing importance of gardening in schools, and its academic influence.

Perhaps more than any other subject, gardening has an ability to draw together the threads of many different subjects across the curriculum. Take the example of creating a small garden for children. Children need to measure and survey the area (mathematics), identify the current flora and fauna (biology), draw the plan (art), prepare the ground (PE), work with others to realise the plan (PHSE) and finally nurture the plants (a key life skill) and witness first-hand the life cycle of plants (biology).

Duncan Heather, the Associate Director, MyGardenSchool and Principal, The Oxford College of Garden Design commented: “It is great to be working with Chris as he has so much energy and enthusiasm for gardening with kids. With over eight years’ experience of working with children, he really brings a unique blend of expertise and experience to the table – and this really makes for an excellent and compelling course. We are really proud to welcome him to MyGardenSchool, where we only have the best garden specialists on staff.”

Chris is not the only star tutor at MyGardenSchool. All of our tutors are outstanding in their field (and gardens), being accomplished gardeners and acclaimed gardening writers.

For example, we have multi-gold medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Andy McIndoe with courses in bulbs, shrubs and trees; Stephanie Donaldson, author and Gardens Editor of Country Living magazine with a course on organic gardening; leading garden designer and author, Hilary Thomas with a courses in planting design; photographer and author Sue Bishop with a course on flower photography; and John Brookes, prolific author who is often described as the world's most influential garden designer, with a course on garden and landscape design. But that’s not all. Take a look at our course pages to see our other tutors.

MyGardenSchool is the world's first online gardening school where students can learn from gardening experts about how to do absolutely everything in the garden from keeping bees or hens, landscaping, design, growing vegetables and herbs, building treehouses or growing the perfect roses. And everything in between. Our courses are four weeks long, and video tutorials are delivered weekly, together with course notes and assignments that will be assessed by your tutor. You also get to chat to your tutor online, as well as your classmates, in the 'virtual classroom'. MyGardenSchool will teach you everything about gardening – virtually.

About Chris Collins

In a career that spans 27 years, Chris Collins has worked in gardens throughout the world, including the Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh, Limbe Botanic Garden (Cameroon), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Westminster Abbey, where Chris was head gardener. He also worked as a British horticultural specialist at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo. For the last 10 years, Chris has been involved in a number of TV projects including his on programme on BBC2 The Plantsman, and appearances as a garden expert in many other shows including The Chelsea Flower Show, Hampton Court Flower Show, Gardeners’ World , This Morning, Castle in the Country, Garden invaders, BBC Breakfast, Digging for Victory, GMTV , A Garden for London, Garden Rivals, Secret Gardens, Hard Sell, Garden Challenge, Turf Wars and of course, Blue Peter. In addition to his work with Blue Peter, Chris visits schools and undertakes projects with children up and down the country through his affiliations with charities such as the Royal Horticultural Society and School Food Matters. Chris has been awarded the Duke of Edinburgh medal for his services to horticulture, and in 2008 was part of the team that won a silver medal at Chelsea with 'The Garden That Kids Really Want.’

FACTFILE:
MyGardenSchool Ltd is a unique global online horticultural classroom. Whether you want to grow organic veg, create enviable flower borders, nurture that perfect lawn, or simply give a good home to an egg laying chicken – MyGardenSchool offers a high quality range of gardening courses taught by some of the world’s top tutors and delivered right to your green fingertips. For more information, please go to the MyGardenSchool website, or visit the MyGardenSchool blog.

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LoveTheGarden awards £200 for Tastiest Tomato Recipe

LoveTheGarden.com will give a £200 restaurant voucher to the blogger who comes up with the most ravishing recipe based on fresh tomatoes. To be in a chance to win this appetizing prize or one of three cookbooks by James Ramsden, people must write a blog post about the Taste for Tomatoes competition including their most cherished tomato recipe and email the URL of the post to entries@lovethegarden.com before 19th October 2011.

The judge will be James Ramsden, author of the cookbook Small Adventures in Cooking and the popular food blog www.JamesRamsden.com. He will especially be looking for surprising recipes that bring out the unique flavour of fresh tomatoes.

Fresh tomatoes are extremely versatile – they can be used in salads, salsas, soups, sandwiches and many other dishes. Bloggers are allowed to include all tomato varieties in their recipes, from big beef tomatoes to sweet cherry toms and from the Yellow Roma to the Russian Black. Each type of tomato has its own unique flavour and texture and the aim of the competition is to find a recipe that brings out the best in the tomato of your choice.

The Taste for Tomatoes competition is LoveTheGarden’s third culinary contest this year. They are organizing these competitions in order to make vegetables more popular in the British Kitchen. The Creative with Cabbage competition was won by blogger Karolina with her Cabbage & Mushroom Pasties. David Hall won the Potty for Potatoes competition with his Hot potato, bacon and nasturtium salad.

For more details and terms and conditions of entry, visit the vegetable garden competition page at LoveTheGarden.com.

UK Top Tree Consultant Advises on 1,500 year old Heritage Tree Under Threat in Palestine

An irreplaceable 1,500 year old ancient olive tree is set to become the latest casualty of the ongoing land dispute on the West Bank near Jerusalem. Too many large mature trees are being destroyed around the world so one of the UK’s top tree consultants Jeremy Barrell has created a method of identifying heritage trees that are at risk.

This format was created originally for use by his clients of the Barrell Treecare Consultancy, for identifying specimen trees in New Zealand. This method enables even a relatively inexperienced person to fill in a questionnaire and from the score each answer receives, determines the tree heritage potential, and if so, should it receive special attention to protect it.

The ancient tree 1,500 year-old olive tree, located in the Palestinian village of Al Walaja, is within metres of the proposed route of the West Bank Barrier, a large construction project that is installing a new 8m tall concrete wall. If the wall is installed, the construction of its foundations and buffer zone will cause such significant damage to the tree that it is unlikely to survive.

Jeremy Barrell (www.barrelltreecare.co.uk), has been asked by the tree’s, nearest resident, Abu Waji, whose land is within the crown spread of the tree, to assess the heritage value of this unique specimen. Jeremy, an expert in managing sensitive trees and the designer of the TreeAH method of assessing heritage value (www.TreeAZ.com), has identified this tree as one of the highest scoring trees he has ever evaluated.

Jeremy explained: “Wherever you go in the world, there are three heritage characteristics that always crop up; visibility, scientific importance and cultural value. Our method (TreeAH) scores each of these, which are added up to indicate how important the tree is in a national context. The maximum possible score for any tree is 20 heritage points, and this tree has hit that maximum; it is not possible to find a more important heritage tree!

“I put the information on “How to identify a heritage tree” on our web site for all to use free of charge to allow ordinary people to make an informed judgement to decide if a tree should be protected or not, as I care about trees,” explained Jeremy.

Many poor communities cannot afford professional help of a skill arboriculture advisor but this chart is proving useful. I do not get involved in the local politics but have provided a standard that all trees can be judged and then those that are considered worthy of protection have an accepted standard to argue their case."

Jeremy, who specialises in protecting vulnerable urban trees during development, knows all too well how sensitive such old trees are from his work on some of the most demanding London projects: “Ancient trees are just like old people, they are particularly vulnerable to changes around them, and for trees, even the smallest disruption in their rooting environment can tip them into an irreversible spiral of decline. Our experience is that protecting sensitive roots from being cut and preventing soil compaction, which indirectly kills roots, are essential priorities during construction. For such an ancient olive, if appropriate measures are not put in place to protect it during and after the wall construction, then its destruction is inevitable.”

Jeremy goes on to explain: “The problem with such old trees is that it is hard to put a cash value on their cultural importance; generations of people will have benefited from this tree’s shade, eaten its fruit and used it as a focal point for social gatherings. The tree is the direct link with those people, unique because it is a living witness to those events and irreplaceable because these links with the past can never be re-forged. There are so few of these ancient living relics left and they are being lost so quickly that each remaining tree becomes increasingly precious and worthy of special protection. Such a high scoring individual is right at the top of the heritage tree; I just hope that its immense cultural value will be recognised and it is saved.”

“I am pleased that my method is now being widely used around the world as a standard and I am hoping that the Arboriculture Association will incorporate many of my findings into the new regulations that they are planning to produce shortly. I care about protecting specimen trees for future generations and following the high number of times this has been down loaded shows how people care about trees. I am planning to have it available in several other languages including Chinese and Spanish so my heritage tree quantifier chart will be readily available for immediate use world-wide, free of charge.”