The Competition Gardens - Southport Flower Show 2001

	Southport Flower Show 16-18th August 2001
The Competition Gardens - I

This garden is a first-time entry from Southport-based designer, Bryan Sutton. He's used reclaimed yorkstone road kerbs, split longitudinally to expose a new, riven face, and then paved a series of terracesin a herringbone pattern, leading up the hill to a timber archway and patio area.
There's a stream winding its way down the slope on a bed of slate mulch, and the planting is healthy mix of green space and beds, with some nice touches, such as the thymes set into the pavement, the grasses at lower levels and the eye-catching topiary around the upper patio.
terrace

stone patio This garden by Craig Watkinson is a variation on the garden he presented last year. The planting is rich, full and varied, with a great combination of colours, textures, sizes set in raised bed around a stone paved patio area.
The walls of the planters are built with reclaimed yorkstone setts, and they meander towards a black gate set in a wall of common bricks. This is one garden where the planting stands out more than the hardscape, and for that alone, Craig deserves his award. I'm not sure about the pointing to those flagstones, though! ;~)

This garden by Ashtons of Lytham is split into 4 quarters of turf and a limestone gravel, separated by a central rill then runs from a mirror-backed water cascade.
There are some splendid topiary specimens in the rear quarters, which I took to be a dolphin and an eagle, but overall, the planting is sparse, understated and not exactly inspiring.
rill01

rill02 I also have a problem with the paving, which consists of reproduction riven flagstones, inexpertly laid to a semicircle at the focus of the garden, and to each side of the crossing rills. They have been laid unevenly, there are huge dollops of unsightly mortar used to make up what should have been cut pieces, and the pointing is falling apart.
There's a lot of hardscape in this garden, and nowhere near enough herbiage. It certainly demands ones attention, but I felt it was for all the wrong reasons.