SlateWood Is The Bees Knees! Briony Doubleday of Bee’s Gardens Wins Gold At Blenheim AND RHS Tatton!
Post date: 18 Jul, 2018
We think our new SlateWood planks and palisades are great – the surface of this European slate looks just like tree bark! Gnarled and rustic, you can effortlessly achieve a reclaimed wood effect while still benefiting from the strength and durability of natural stone.
The superbly talented Briony Doubleday from Bee’s Gardens liked our SlateWood so much, she made it a key feature in her award-winning show garden ‘The Penumbra’ which she showcased at both the Blenheim Palace Flower Show (22nd - 24th June) and the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show (18th - 22nd July). Briony’s garden helps to raise awareness and support The Stroke Association. The two show gardens were to be built in different-sized areas, so Briony had to design two different layouts.
‘The Penumbra’ is designed for a shady, sheltered, urban garden, to show that abundant and lush planting can thrive in a small garden overshadowed by neighbouring buildings…this garden has been designed as a space for relatives of stroke survivors to step out of the clinical area and reflect and build their resilience to provide strength and support to their loved one.’ - www.beesgardens.co.uk
It was the golden, rusty-coloured hues shot through the slate that appealed the most to Briony. She was still keen to have a natural finish at the edges. Working with the teams from our CED Stone Landscape – Midlands Depot and our CED Stone Landscape – London West Depot, Briony was specifically looking for planks with straighter edges and distinctive rusty streaks, which would match with the rusted piping and corten water trough features in the garden.
Briony also used our Golden Flint Gravel to fill in around the planks. We suggested to Briony that if the gravel was going to be walked on, it will need a compacted sub base to prevent mixing with the underlying soil. The option for using our CEDAedge to keep a neat line between the fresh green fern planting and the aggregate was also discussed, but Briony wanted some of the plants to ‘creep’ up to the edges of the aggregate to create a natural look so that wasn’t included in the final design.
Briony’s design looked amazing, a fact recognised by all the awards and medals it won! ‘The Penumbra’ garden won the Grand Floral Pavilion Gold Award at Blenheim, and a Gold Medal, Best Back-To-Back Garden Award and Best Construction Award at RHS Tatton.
You can find more information about our new SlateWood products here. RHS Tatton Park Flower Show 2018 runs from 18th - 22nd July and tickets are available from here. If you are planning on designing a garden for a flower show or event and would like to discuss the possibility of using hard landscaping products from CED Stone Landscape, then please do contact us and we will do our best to support your project.