Showing what can be done...

Anyone fortunate enough to visit on day one – and inquisitive enough to head out of the food hall – might have discovered a little backwater of beauty that was the site of the design gardens.

Far away from the show’s central arena, this seemingly forgotten area of grass bore witness to the hard work and imagination of a handful of successful – and aspiring – horticultural designers who had beaten the atrocious weather of early July to turn their ideas into reality.

Established designer Lizzie Tulip, from York, took the laurels – and the gold medal – for her stunning garden, which featured a wind sculpture of a sycamore seed pod, the work of artist Rebecca Newnham.

But what those visitors who were lucky enough to discover Lizzie’s garden – and six more stretching along a grassy strip at the top of the show site – also got to see was a majestic mixture of hard landscaping and quality planting.

Competitions such as the GYS event – and those at various shows around the country – are packed with ideas; they are designed to make the most of confined spaces and often incorporate ground-breaking answers to horticultural problems.

They are the culmination of hundreds of hours of hard work – the initial design, the constant updating, the manual labour demanded by hard landscaping, the skill at choosing and dovetailing the plants. And all this is a battle against the clock, the numerous hitches that bedevil any precise plan, and the elements.

So it’s sad that so few people got to see the finished articles at Harrogate 2012. Hopefully, 2013 will bring better weather, more adventurous and inspired designers and a bit more publicity for what is just one small part of a major event – but a very important small part.

Design gardens give ordinary gardeners the chance to see what’s possible, at what price. They can be inspirational and ingenious.

Thanks should go to the GYS for the chance to see such gardens. But next 
year, will someone please put up a 
sign to lead the gardening masses in 
the right direction – “This way to the show gardens” would probably do it.