Water themed garden impresses judges at Harrogate Spring Flower Show.
A local garden designer and landscape garden constructor are celebrating after winning a gold award for their sustainable garden project in the Garden Design Competition at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.
Maxine Nelson of Gardens by Max in Leeds and David Massey, owner of David Massey Garden Construction in Harrogate, joined forces at the end of 2010 to create the brief for “The Call of Nature” – a sustainable garden bathroom which promotes the world’s most precious resource, water.
The quirky idea captured the imaginations of the Harrogate Flower Show committee, ensuring Max and David were able to make their vision into reality with sponsorship money to construct the garden.
The award-winning project is now being exhibited before thousands of visitors at the spring show between 14th and 17th April.
The concept was developed with the aim of creating a garden out of a room, specifically the bathroom where most water is wasted, to raise awareness of the charity Water Aid, of which HRH the Prince of Wales is the President.
The Prince of Wales is Patron of the North of England Horticultural Society which sponsors the garden design competition winner, and in celebration of the Prince’s other charities and interests, the theme this year is sustainable gardening and gardens with ecological interest.
It is the first year the College Garden Design competition has been opened up to professional garden designers and landscapers to mark the North of England Horticultural Society’s Centenary year. The move has been encouraged by a number of local colleges, hopeful it will create a more diverse competition.
Maxine Nelson said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won Gold in the Best Garden Design Competition. As gardeners we are ever aware of the need for water to be freely available, however we often give little thought to its value throughout the world. Through our garden design we hope to reflect the issues of world water shortages and highlight how home owners can recycle the ‘grey’ water from their homes to maintain lush flower beds and vegetable plots.”
David Massey commented: “All the hard work has definitely paid off and we’re so pleased the judges recognised what we set out to achieve. We always aim to express innovative and creative ways of creating garden features through use of stunning planting, traditional building skills and materials juxtaposed with objects you wouldn’t normally expect to find in a garden, i.e; a bathroom suite.
“We hope visitors to our stand will be able to take ideas home with them and have a long lasting memory of their visit to the Harrogate Spring Flower Show 2011.”
