A triumphant return to the Malvern Show for Graduates
The Graduate Gardeners Cotswold Garden swept the board at The Malvern Spring Show, winning a Gold Medal, the Best in Show Garden, and the Best Construction Award. This is the eighth Gold Medal for Graduates at Malvern, the sixth Best Show Garden, and the fourth Gold and fourth Best in Show Award for the Graduate Gardeners designer, Mark Draper.
The Grads team of six, led by Foreman Dave Newns, built the garden over 120 man-days from 15th April until 5th May, with Mark Draper leading the planting team. The garden was funded by Graduate Gardeners, with suppliers loaning the paving, furniture, and kitchen. The public enjoyed seeing a garden that they could take home and replicate in their own spaces. Not necessarily as a whole, but with so many separate elements, there was something for everyone.
The garden was split into thirds, with three clearly separate areas: dining, lounge, and meadow, although each flowed seamlessly into the next.
The garden was accessed through a door from a courtyard, which opened into a raised dining area, nestled in a corner of old dry stone walls and covered by a Douglas Fir pergola. The front supports of the pergola were set on ancient staddle stones, sitting in the surrounding York Stone paving. The pergola provides a sense of enclosure while allowing free flow of light and air, and the lovely effect of dappled sunlight on the walling, changing throughout the day.
The dining table, by Bramblecrest, had seating for eight, with socialising space for many more, along with a Whistler kitchen with barbecue and rotisserie.
Below the dining area was a ‘Lutyens’ style dry stone dome feature set into the wall, out of which a natural spring flowed down through a rill, made of York stone cobble setts, that ran the whole length along the front of the garden. This flowed into an old stone trough sitting in a stream that ran from the rear of the wildflower meadow.
Borders ran either side of the rill, dotted with Yew balls of varying sizes and infilled with perennials, the standout plants being Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’ and Veronica gentianoides, overhanging the rill.
Steps ran down from the dining area into an enclosed seating area, with a Bramblecrest sofa and two chairs sitting around a low rectangular table. The area was paved with the same York Stone setts as the rill. Relaxed and subdued tones of the planting, with Euonymus alatus just breaking into leaf, made this a calming area to sit and chill, with the gentle trickle of the rill water running through. The area had a Hawthorn hedge to the rear and a rusted estate fence with a gate, separating it from the Wildflower Meadow area.
The Wildflower Meadow was sown with a mix of thirty-four wildflower varieties, although the Ragged Robin was predominant at the show, with Ox Eye Daisies and Campion just about to break open. A mown path ran from the gate, through the meadow and over an old oak sleeper bridge, crossing the small stream that ran from the back of the meadow to the front, where it picked up the outflow from the rill. The stream was lined with old moss-covered stone, fallen branches, and marginal aquatic plants.
Show Garden Interview
Winning Garden Designer Mark Draper discusses the show garden’s design and build with MuddyBootz Allotment Channel.
