The heat has sapped my energy so completely that all I can manage are a few photographs I took from our visit on Tuesday; hopefully they speak for themselves:
The Satoyama Life garden by the Ishihara Kazuyuki Design Laboratory
M&G Garden by Andy Sturgeon
The lavender walk in Arne Maynard’s garden
Pleached copper beech walk in Arne Maynard’s garden
The L’Occitane Immortelle Garden by Peter Dowle
The Telegraph Garden by Sarah Price
Dappled evening light in Sarah Price’s garden
Joe Swift’s garden
London Plane tree in Joe Swift’s garden
Topiary in Cleve West’s garden
Planting detail in Cleve West’s garden
Water detail in Cleve West’s garden
And last but not least:
Corgies for the Golden Jubilee
Welcome to my miniscule part of the universe!On this blog you can catch up with what I've been upto in the garden, and pretty much anything else to do with gardens, gardening and plants. I'll also drop in some views on any number of other things, including travels and adventures.
A Gardener's Life for Me 
Posted by David Marsden on May 28, 2012 at 06:01
Did the whole world and his wife/husband go to Chelsea this year? Seems every blogger did – ‘cept me. Hmpff. You’re taunting me with that beautiful pleached avenue. I really want to plant one at the Priory but am having to argue my case. Dave
Posted by Jason on May 28, 2012 at 08:02
Hi Dave, yeah t’was very busy, the usual sardines in a tin scenario. We had tickets for 15.30 entry so had plenty of time to look around and it did seem to get quieter in the evening; by about 19.00 it was pretty easy to walk around the show gardens without needing to elbow to the front to get a view! I think a pleached avenue would be wonderful; would you buy the trees in ready pleached or do it yourself? and what sort of trees?
Posted by David Marsden on May 28, 2012 at 16:51
Ah, that sounds quite civilised (no riff-raff!!!). I would probably buy fairly big trees, otherwise we’d be waiting for several years to get the effect, but do the pleaching myself – something I’ve always wanted to do. And I think they’d have to be hornbeam as the ground is pretty wet. Still just a dream at the mo tho! D
Posted by Jason on May 30, 2012 at 18:42
Indeed, riff-raff just wouldn’t do! I hope the dream becomes a reality, especially if the Priory owner is willing to pay for large trees, it’ll look great for if/when you open up to the Great British Public!
Posted by Darren T on May 28, 2012 at 08:58
The Satoyama and L’Occitane gardens look amazing. There’s to be a bit too much design for design’s sake in some of the others, but those two seem to be much more naturalistic. Was it the Satoyama that won Best in Show?
Posted by Jason on May 30, 2012 at 18:40
Hi Darren, The Satoyama was lovely and I think it won best Artisan garden. I guess the design element is there because it’s a showcase rather than a run-of-the-mill garden; Joe Swift’s garden was impressiyve but I doubt if anyone would transplant the wooden structures to a domestic garden. Best in Show was Cleve West’s garden; personally I would have chosen Arne Maynard’s garden. Jason.
Posted by Christina on June 1, 2012 at 10:11
Hi Jason, I disagree about Arne Maynard’s garden. I thought it was an impossible planting to be able to actually garden; you wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near any of the central plants to weed, prune etc. I loved Joe Swift’s garden with or without the wooden structures. I’ll post about my thoughts on this year’s show next week. Christina
Posted by Jason on June 13, 2012 at 18:39
Hi Christina,
It is certainly possible that weeding and pruning may be difficult in such a garden but then I have seen borders much larger than this that are well maintained, often through effective use of mulching and selecting plants that don’t leave space for weeds. To be honest I enjoyed seeing the dense planting on offer in this garden as some of the others were a little sparse in places. Jason.
Posted by Ursula on June 19, 2012 at 10:34
Hi Jason
I have just come across your blog as I am new to all this. I loved your shots of Chelsea Flower Show – I’ve have also written up my thoughts on a great show. Your photographs are excellent – I think I loved the Professor’s garden best and some of the Fresh gardens were very interesting indeed.
Ursula
Posted by Jason on June 20, 2012 at 21:16
Hi Ursula, thanks for your comment and pleased that you enjoyed the post. There were plenty of great gardens and lots of interesting ideas to take away as always though, as ever, it is a manic show!