Cardiff Council and Llandaff North Residents' Association have a show garden at the RHS show Cardiff 2012. Afterwards, the garden will be moved to its permanent site in Llandaff North.

17 April 2012

Build: day 4

Got to the site at 8.30am with Margaret, but the event team were stricter on the number of vehicles on site today, and we had to park in the nursery. Once there, we found Alex and Ben collecting plants that the nursery team (led by Nigel) had brought on for us - Alchemilla, day lilies, hostas etc.

After the high winds last night, we were relieved that everything was still upright! Colin and the two Johns cracked on with putting up the feather board fencing and Alex, Ben and I painted a second coat of stain on the staging. John fetched a load of bark mulch which we used to bulk up the planting area before adding the soil tomorrow.

We received another visit from parks team leader Rob Jones, and Will Power too (yes, I wasn't making that name up!) Rob certainly knows his stuff and I've been told he's been invited to judge gardens in the past, so he gave the plot a once over with his critical eye. I showed him the plants we had and he gave me some tips for planting out and conditioning the plants. Both he and Will picked up a night scented stock we've chosen, as they hadn't seen that variety before. It's a really healthy looking, pretty plant and chosen by me! I'm really pleased with our plant choices, as there's not much in flower at this time of year, but the foliage shape and colour work really well together. At least I hope the judges think so!

The Echo sent a photographer to take photos of us today. I was instructed to sit in the paving circle while holding a hosta, with the guys working behind in the background! Then I had to pose and lift the hosta in the air. So embarrassing and I dread to think what witty comments were coming from the others knowing their banter. Good job I was out of earshot! All good publicity for LNRA, the council, RHS and our sponsors though which is the main thing, and I'm always grateful for the Echo coverage of Llandaff North issues as it makes such a difference. I lost all inhibitions about publicity long ago!

We wrapped up on site at 5pm-ish and then I went for wander to the other show gardens for a chat. Gaynor Whitchard is lovely, and was busy picking through her bamboo. Her contemporary garden looks stunning and will be a highlight of the show.. So will Rich Landscapes' garden, which is also a favourite, and ladies - what a good looking pair of lads and so friendly too! The amount of work that's gone into Broxton and Moruzzi's garden is amazing and I'm sure will be popular with the public.

All-in-all I think the standard of previous shows has been surpassed this year.

I left my camera onsite tonight and had to phone the H&S site manager whose number I'd luckily put into my mobile on day 1, and he found it and has put it away for me to pick up tomorrow. So no photos today I'm afraid.

It's all going so fast. I'm loving every minute and will be sad when it all ends. I think I'll come down to earth with a bump next week!


No comments: