THE Royal Horticultural Society’s Flower Show at Tatton Park will open next week, once again set in the beautiful surroundings of Cheshire’s 1,000-acre deer park.

Renowned for its pioneering and innovative gardens and ideas, the show is the highlight of the North of England’s gardening calendar.

The 2012 event will feature visionary gardens, show gardens, the RHS National Flowerbed Competition, orchestra gardens, the announcement of the National Young Designer of the Year, the Floral Design Studio, the Great Taste Food Market and much more.

Among the highlights will be the announcement of the RHS National Young Designer of the Year in association with the Society of Garden Designers on Wednesday, July 18.

This year’s visionary gardens will bring together art and horticulture to challenge traditional ideas and boundaries of conventional garden design and engage art and sculpture in horticulture.

Also on display during this year of the London 2012 Olympics will be entries for the RHS National Flower Bed Competition, celebrating the Olympics.

A range of flower beds by local authorities and community groups from across the country will showcase the theme ‘Celebration of Sport’, with each bed depicting a different sport.

Those more interested in music will be intrigued to see orchestra gardens, a new themed garden competition in which designers have been given the brief to create a garden reflecting part of an orchestra.

There will be five gardens each representing one musical discipline, for example brass, strings and percussion.

Visitors in search of culinary inspiration can head for the Great Taste Food Market, which will showcase produce from across the UK.

Fortnum Mason Michelin-starred chef Shaun Hill will select ingredients available at the market and incorporate them into his menu on offer in the Tatton Club and Parlour at the Taste of Fortnum’s.

Garden designers of the future will display their expertise with this year’s School Front to Front Gardens. Almost 30 local schools will create gardens based around a theme of children’s TV programmes.

Local primary schools will also be encouraged to enter the ‘Jubilant Diamond Jubilee’ North West Container Competition. Containers will be on display for the duration of the show, with visitors voting for their favourite across the five days.

The ladies day takes place on Thursday, July 19, and will feature fashion, floristry demonstrations, cocktails and talks.

The RHS Flower Show Tatton Park is open to the public from Thursday, July 19, to Sunday, July 22. To buy tickets, visit www.rhs.org.uk or call 0844 871 7661.

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Basics of Garden Design

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SF ‘nanoclimates’ create gardening challenges

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We talk about San Francisco’s local microclimates, but really they’re more like nanoclimates. Every neighborhood has been dealt a different hand of temperature, moisture, soil, lot sizes, drainage, slope, weeds and pests. Home gardeners come to know, sometimes the hard way, what their yards’ felicities and limitations are; smart nursery folks can advise customers about plant choices.

How does a professional garden designer cope with all these variations? We asked Janet Moyer and Michael Hofman, who combine 23 years of local experience with cutting-edge technology that gives a garden just the amount of water it needs – and not a drop more.

With clients all over the city and almost 500 gardens they’ve designed and built, Moyer and Hofman know the terrain well. “The Mission has the warmest climate, the nicest soil and the least wind,” Moyer said. “There’s more organic matter in the soil there. On the western edge the soil is very sandy. You have to choose your plants carefully. The most challenging areas? I’d say west of Twin Peaks. Mount Davidson is the most challenging because of the fog and wind.”

Low valley spots get colder in winter and are less suited for succulents and other frost-tender plants. Noe Valley, where the weather and soil are good and the lots are a bit larger than average, is one of her favorite locales.

Edible plants are also vulnerable to local conditions. Citrus and figs thrive in the Mission. “Meyer lemon does best with a little more warmth, but can grow in all areas of the city,” Moyer said. “Not all vegetables do well in San Francisco, but cherry tomatoes are pretty productive.”

Even weeds can be local. For Moyer, the plant pellitory-of-the-wall is Potrero Hills stickyweed. Obnoxious as it is, pellitory has one redeeming quality: It’s the larval host plant for the red admiral butterfly. “Areas protected from the wind are more likely to have insect pests,” she said. Gophers are abundant in the Avenues, less so in the Mission.

Hofman handles the tech end of the business. Many of the couple’s clients have adopted “smart” irrigation controllers with local weather stations to activate them. “Local control is best in places like Forest Hills, where the topography makes it difficult to receive a satellite signal,” Hofman said. “The satellite version has a one-day lag. But with the local system, if it rains enough today, it won’t water tomorrow. You just set it and forget it.”

The systems not only reduce water use, but they also benefit the plants. “What we’re trying to advocate is having the plants be healthy but not grow too fast,” said Hofman. “We provide only the water the plants need. That means the owner isn’t taking a lot of green waste to the dump.” Each plant has its own emitter: “The most effective irrigation is individual. We can determine how much each plant gets, the same way it’s done in vineyards.”

Moyer and Hofman showed us two representative projects. One, in the Mission, had been a small, deep slope dominated by a huge New Zealand flax plant. “Originally there was no way to get access to the garden,” Moyer said. “We came up with a plan to bridge the space.”

They planted miniature roses to suit the scale of the site, Meyer lemon and Bearss lime trees, native sage and alum-root, hellebore and impatiens, all in terraced beds, walkable yet narrow enough to seem a mural of color and scent for the patio at the back door.

The other garden, near the Ingleside, combines ornamentals and edibles in a more expansive backyard. “The owners had planter boxes but didn’t want to fill them until we had designed the rest,” said Moyer. “We placed them for the best sun and the least visual impact.” They’re now full of mustard, chard, onions, strawberries and mint and surround a beehive. “We designed around a Meyer lemon tree and a Japanese maple.” The trees now have an understory of perennials, and anchor an inviting path.

The Meyer lemon trees in both gardens seem content, in very different spaces. Knowing precisely where to push the nanoclimate envelope seems to pay off.

Janet Moyer Landscaping: www.jmoyerlandscaping.com.

Joe Eaton and Ron Sullivan are naturalists and writers in Berkeley. E-mail: home@sfchronicle.com

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Lakes Region homes in the spotlight for 25th Hospice Home & Garden Tour

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Aficionados of fine home and garden design can tour some of the Lakes Region’s loveliest homes tomorrow during the 25th annual Hospice Home and Garden Tour.

The event is the largest fundraiser for the Central New Hampshire VNA and Hospice, formerly known as VNA/Hospice of Southern Carroll County and Community Health and Hospice of Laconia. The two agencies merged in 2010.

This year’s tour includes a variety of homes in the Wolfeboro area. The first is a hilltop home in Tuftonboro with mountain views; two are historic homes located in Wolfeboro village, and the last two are both Lake Winnipesaukee lakefront homes with water views. The event will be held rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with lunch at the Inn on Main Street in Wolfeboro from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for $15.

Tickets for the tour are $40, available at Black’s Gift Shop and Paper store on South Main Street in Wolfeboro.

VNA Hospice Development Director Brian Winslow said the home and garden tour typically raises up to $25,000 a year for the nonprofit agency.

Pulling off the event takes many volunteers who begin planning usually a year in advance by vetting out potential homes for the tour. Winslow said the tour is a result of “great labor and work.”

“The hard part is making sure the logistics are right,” he said.

Hospice Advisory Chairperson Shirley Richardson said the tour relies on hundreds of volunteers, committee members, community members and businesses that support the effort in different ways. Richardson also credited the participating homeowners for their commitment to the agency’s cause.

“We are very grateful to the folks who have kindly offered their homes for the tour. It is indeed a huge commitment on their part and a tribute to their willingness to support Hospice,” she said. “Some have been touched by Hospice in their own lives while others realize the value of this program that promotes and nurtures our commitment to each other.”

Among the houses on this year’s tour is the Forest Road home of John and Claudia Foster. This lake view home on Edmund’s Cove overlooks the Broads and Rattlesnake Island. Built in 2004, the home showcases the family’s collections and antiques, from old books to 1900 Javanese woodcarvings to Americana to original artwork.

The great room features hickory floors and pine beams. The master suite features lots of built-ins including a window seat and bookshelves. Throughout the home antiques and memorabilia are blended with modern amenities.

A second home, owned by Gary McGloin and designed by Cheryl Scott, is a renovated 1970s ranch style. Renovations included removal of three layers of wallpaper and covering the popcorn ceiling with a pine v-match paneling.

Reclaimed hardwood flooring replaced linoleum in the kitchen and oak floors in the rest of the house were refinished. Kitchen cabinets were revitalized with cream paint, honey glaze and crown molding. Granite countertops completed the updated look. The home is filled with personal touches and an updated feel.

Patty and Peter Cooke’s Wolfeboro home was originally built in 1860, but has been renovated to include modern conveniences that blend seamlessly with the old. The home includes built-ins and storage spaces that maximize every inch and provide display space for various collections. Many of the original light fixtures were recycled from the original home, which was gutted along with the adjoining barn when the home was renovated.

Teresa Shatzer’s downtown Wolfeboro home combines here love of travel and collecting. The home offers southwest view of Lake Winnipesaukee that can be enjoyed through large windows. The home is furnished with a variety of French, English and American antiques, Russell Wright American stoneware, Taiwanese embroidered scrolls and contemporary artwork and sculpture. The home includes a second floor apartment with three-bedrooms and two baths.

Tour ticketholders will receive information on each location and highlights of the homes.

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Bath architects help design Singapore’s City in a Garden

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10 July 2012
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Kenneth Er, chief operating officer of Gardens by the Bay and a forest ecologist, explains what the project seeks to achieve

A team of landscape architects from Bath have helped design part of what are believed to be the world’s largest gardens in Singapore.

The workforce from Grant Associates have just completed more than half of the 101-hectare tropical garden.

Director Andrew Grant said its brief had been to make an amazing tropical garden and make it the favourite place for Singaporeans.

The project is part of Singapore’s City in a Garden vision.

The scheme is designed to raise the profile of the city.

Mr Grant said a key part of its design is the super tree structure – made out of steel – and the tropical plants which typically live in the rainforest providing a vertical garden.

The Gardens by the Bay project is built on reclaimed land in Singapore’s new downtown at Marina Bay

“These are 25 to 50m-tall (82-164ft) and also do a lot of environmental things.

“They have photovoltaic [solar] panels at the top and are also used for vents for some of the energy centres and conservatories.

“It’s so fantastic to be part of the garden – it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime project and thrilling for people using it,” he added.

The Gardens by the Bay project is built on reclaimed land in Singapore’s new downtown at Marina Bay.

Grant Associates was appointed in 2006 by the National Parks Board of Singapore to masterplan Bay South Garden, the first and largest of the three planned gardens at the site.

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All Black Andy Ellis’ garden design wins award

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INSPIRED BY QUAKES: This garden, designed by Andy Ellis and Danny Kamo, won a gold award at the Singapore Garden Festival over the weekend.

All Black Andy Ellis’ second talent – gardening – has been recognised again.

Ellis, in conjunction with landscape architect Danny Kamo, designed a garden which has won an international design award.

The pair’s landscape, inspired by the Canterbury earthquakes, picked up a gold award at the Singapore Garden Festival over the weekend.

Ellis and Kamo’s garden told the Maori myth of Ruaumoko, the God of Earthquakes.

Ellis said: “We hope to give the public an insight into the effect of Christchurch earthquakes, and a sense of the enthusiasm and motivation surrounding the rebuild and the future of the city.”

The design team worked with Weta workshops to create the centrepiece of the exhibit, a 10-metre by 4.5m cave that has the ability to shake and move.

“Working with Sir Richard Taylor and the Weta team was an absolute privilege,” Ellis said.

“What they achieved was beyond our wildest dreams.”

The Singapore Garden Festival, which included 15 of the top show garden designers from around the world, was officially opened by Singapore President Tony Tan on Friday night.

Up to 400,000 people were expected to view the exhibits over the next nine days.

“Due to climate and finance we weren’t able to ship New Zealand native plants over here so we had to use local plant material to represent a native bush scene from home,” Kamo said.

“It looks fantastic and a bit of bird call audio taken from Christchurch’s Port Hills gives it further meaning.”

The duo, who also won various awards at the Ellerslie International Flower Show, were not sure what show they would tackle next, but Kamo said his company’s main focus was on helping with the planning and design of the Christchurch rebuild.

“The priority is home, but if another show comes along, who knows,” Kamo said.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Are garden lights worth the investment?

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THERE is no denying good quality garden lighting takes the impact of a garden design to the next level. But a quality finish is expensive so the question really is whether it is worth the investment if you’re thinking of selling.

Lighting for the average garden can be costly – somewhere between $5000 – $8000 in general. But trying to cut costs on lights is usually a false economy.

Inexpensive lighting is cheaply made and easily fills with water in an outdoor environment and in turn it stops working.

Lights that hurt the hip pocket a bit more generally have a longer warranty, guaranteeing them and your investment.

I always go for a low voltage L.E.D lighting system, as it is safe for your children and pets, uses little energy and is much more environmentally friendly than high voltage systems.

Low voltage systems also allow for more flexibility in the design with more lights being easily added to existing systems.

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Houses in the lower end of the price range will never get their investment back on an installation of a good quality lighting scheme. But what does help is picking the best feature of the garden – like a tree or a screen – and then lighting that with a simple spot light.

Mid-range houses will benefit from a simple lighting design – don’t over capitalize but again make sure you highlight the best parts of your garden.

Concentrate on paths and the front door as well as any key features you want to show off, like entertaining spaces and lush areas of planting.

Lighting in a mid ranged house will add a wow factor that other houses may not have and its wow factors that sell houses.

Garden lighting is a must in higher priced houses. It’s a bit like buying a premium car – you wouldn’t buy a Rolls Royce that didn’t have air-conditioning as standard so why would you spend a premium price for a house without all the extras?

If you do invest in a lighting scheme – be it small or large scale – remember to hold a few open houses at dusk to really show it off.

Opening your house at this time will also help buyers imagine themselves in your space at every time of the day and the more natural a buyer feels in your home the more likely they are to put in an offer resulting in a successful sale.

* Charlie Albone is the co-host of Selling Houses Australia on The LifeStyle Channel and runs his own business called Inspired Exteriors

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Laura Ashley: Feel Inspired by RHS Hampton Court Palace Show

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LONDON, July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ —
British heritage brand believes featured exhibitions at this year’s RHS flower show can influence decoration inside the home as well as in the garden

In its 22nd year, the RHS Hampton Palace Flower Show, which is taking place this week, is widely lauded as the world’s biggest garden show. This year’s centre-piece figure, which indicated the overall theme of the show, focuses on community gardening, highlighting how gardening and horticulture can bring people together and improve communal spaces.

However Laura Ashley, one of the UK’s best-loved fashion and home-furnishing retailers, believes the show can also be a great source of inspiration for personal home furnishing and decoration- as well of course for garden design.

While the event will showcase an array of prized gardens from some of the world’s most celebrated designers, Laura Ashley believes the synergy between rich, colourful garden design and interior decoration can often lead to customers adorning their homes with garden inspired furniture, accessories and even wallpaper.

The RHS Hampton Palace Flower Show will last the entire week before closing on July 8th. The venue for the show itself is nestled amongst the stunning grounds of Hampton Palace in Surrey.

Laura Ashley stocks a vast range of beautifully crafted outdoor furniture. They pride themselves on choosing pieces which best complements the surge in interest in garden design; offering customers a rich blend of contemporary and traditional-lead pieces.

To view their vast collection of outdoor furniture, and indeed indoor furniture ranges, please visit the Laura Ashley website

About Laura Ashley

Laura Ashley is a quintessentially British lifestyle brand founded on a rich design heritage and on the traditional values of quality and originality. We use prints and designs that evoke the English countryside, for the way you live today.

As an innovative global brand, Laura Ashley extends to encompass the broader lifestyle concept, from fashion to home decorating, beds, bedroom furniture sets and accessories.

SOURCE Laura Ashley

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Bring your interior design outdoors

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ATLANTA — Several years ago, Michael and Lillie Axelrod decided they wanted to redo the outdoor space of their Sandy Springs, Ga., home. They had the deck removed and added a screened-in porch. The next step was to call their go-to interior designer for help.

Susan E. Miles of Allegro Interiors came up with a plan to create a functional yet contemporary-styled outdoor space where the Axelrods could gather with family and friends.

“We had a vague idea of what we wanted to do,” said Michael Axelrod, a business consultant and retired attorney. “But we needed help executing that vision.”

Using a variety of materials to create a stylish, livable space, Miles selected porcelain tile for the floor, a stained concrete top for the dining table and dining chairs made of brushed lacquered aluminum. She also coordinated the Sunbrella fabrics for the sofas and chairs with the other accessories, including wall sconces and ceiling fans.

The Axelrods were pleased with their new room. But they aren’t alone in wanting to extend the comfort and luxury of their homes to the great outdoors.

The growing “leisure lifestyle” industry is now a $6.2 billion industry in the United States, up 5.4 percent from 10 years ago, according to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association, a trade group in Virginia.

Outdoor spaces, such as decks, patios and porches, can add value to a home. But they take some planning, too. To create a space that is right for you, consider these tips and trends from various sources, including the HPBA, plus Atlanta-area Allegro Interiors, Kolo Collection and AuthenTeak.

TIPS

-Determine the size and how you will use the outdoor space (cooking, relaxing, entertaining) before you shop for furniture and accessories.

-Allow the outdoor space to be a natural extension of your home’s interior design.

-Research products online and check products at discount and home stores, plus specialty outdoor retailers. Sit on couches and chairs to determine comfort.

-Make sure furnishings complement the exterior of the house as well as the outside trim, stucco or brick colors.

-Select furniture frames made of brushed aluminum, cast aluminum, solid wrought iron or weather-resistant wicker.

-Use worry-free fabrics, such as Sunbrella, for your upholstered pieces. The fabric dries quickly and is easy to clean. It also resists mildew and fading.

-Consider canvas awnings and umbrellas – or shades to control sun.

-Families might prefer bench seating because one bench can seat several children. Benches also are more economical than individual chairs.

-Choose rugs made from acrylic or olefin. They are easy to care for and resist fading.

-Create an outdoor room over a few years to accommodate your wish list if you are on a budget. During the first year, install the hearth products and define grilling and eating areas.

TRENDS

-Outdoor fireplaces, water features and grills (and outdoor kitchens) provide natural gathering spots and can be handsome focal points for an outdoor area.

-Larger decks and multiple conversation areas are popular.

-Sophisticated lighting, such as sconces, chandeliers and lamps, help create a mood and allow you to spend more time outdoors.

-Decorative low-voltage lighting, wired into the deck steps and posts or along pathways, adds an element of safety.

-Draperies made from indoor-outdoor fabrics attached to stone or wood columns create a sense of intimacy .

-Gray is a popular color group in outdoor furniture and fabrics in 2012, but browns are still in demand.

-Colorful accessories and fun patterns, such as rugs and outdoor pillows (Elaine Smith pillows are top choices).

-Families with young children are using newer outdoor fabrics on their indoor furniture.

RESOURCES

www.allegrointeriordesign.com

www.authenteak.com

www.ballarddesigns.com

www.colonial-lighting.com

www.fanimation.com

www.frontgate.com

www.gardenista.com

www.hpba.org

www.kolocollection.com

www.vikingrange.com

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Syria: Lord recruited to design garden for Assad family, emails show

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“We stopped working there 18 months ago,” he told the Mail on
Sunday. “I can’t comment any further.”

The correspondence is among 2.6 million documents and emails pertaining to
Syria that WikLeaks has begun to publish.

The latest tranche to be released showed that Mr Assad provided money to a
female aide, Lamis Omar, a doctorate student at the University of Durham.

Emails released earlier this year have demonstrated a surprisingly
affectionate relationship between the Syrian president and a number of young
women, and Miss Omar wrote effusively about Mr Assad in her emails.

“My life is no longer my own,” she declared in one. “I
willingly dedicate it for all the meanings I find in you and in all those
loved by you. Please allow me to further prove it.”

It is unclear whether or not Mr Assad directly paid Miss Omar’s university
fees.

Brown Lloyd James, an Anglo-American public relations firm also faces
embarrassment from the latest disclosures. In may last year, as the violence
was worsening, it wrote to Mrs Assad’s office proposing that she and her
husband burnish their image by embarking on a “listening tour” of
Syria.

The firm, founded by former Beatles manager Peter Brown, has previously
insisted that it had ended all work with the Syrian government in December,
2010.

A spokesman for the firm said the email was an “unsolicited last-ditch
memo” to try to persuade the regime to implement reforms and that no
money was received for the advice.

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Countdown to RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park

Basics of Garden Design

Basics of Garden Design – Gilroy Dispatch: Calendar

Calendar

Evergreen Branch Library

Welcome to the discussion.

SF ‘nanoclimates’ create gardening challenges

Lakes Region homes in the spotlight for 25th Hospice Home & Garden Tour

Bath architects help design Singapore’s City in a Garden

All Black Andy Ellis’ garden design wins award

Sponsored links

Are garden lights worth the investment?

Laura Ashley: Feel Inspired by RHS Hampton Court Palace Show

Bring your interior design outdoors

Syria: Lord recruited to design garden for Assad family, emails show

Innovative vertical growing

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