Events
ADCOTE GIRLS CELEBRATE GARDEN GOLD AT MALVERN
Girls from Adcote helped designer Chris Beardshaw create the "Three Counties Garden" achieve gold medal success at this year's Malvern Spring Gardening Show. The judges were so impressed by the Victorian Bothy Show Garden designed by the TV gardener in association with Adcote that it not only won a Royal Horticultural Society Gold medal but also scooped the Best in Show award.
Chris Beardshaw is pictured (centre) receiving the Best in Show award from (left) Mr. Audley Twiston-Davies (President of the Three Counties Agricultural Society) and (right) Mr. Peter Buckley (President of the Royal Horticultural Society) with Adcote teacher Louise Hudson and pupils in costume.
Recreating an old-fashioned Victorian country garden complete with rare breed pigs, sheep and chickens the unusual 20m square exhibit was surrounded by a dry stone wall and native hedgerow. In addition to a cider apple orchard, ornamental cutting garden and cottage-style herbery the garden also contained an authentic pig sty, pastureland and a small pond with ducks and geese.
Designed to demonstrate the rural skills and craftsmanship dating back 150 years, the project provided the girls from Adcote with a unique opportunity to help Chris with everything from the design of the garden to growing the plants from seed. The pupils, who have been working alongside the celebrity gardener since before Christmas also enjoyed manning the stand during the show in Victorian costume.
Adcote teacher Louise Hudson told us, "We are obviously delighted to have done so well and the chance to work with Chris has been an amazing experience for everyone involved. The idea of having a Victorian garden tied in with the school's centenary this year and the original walled garden here was the inspiration for the vegetable and flower garden. As well as working hard and spending all their spare time nurturing and caring for plants destined for the Show the girls did lots of research into Victorian gardening styles and techniques and even learned about cooking Victorian vegetable varieties."
The Malvern Show, which is the first major horticultural event of the gardening year, regularly attracts 60-70,000 visitors from all over the UK . This year gardening enthusiasts were able to pick up top tips from Chris Beardshaw and fellow celebrity gardeners, Joe Swift, Diarmuid Gavin and James Alexander-Sinclair.
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