Overview

Harrowden Turf supplied sedum matting for the Silver Gilt award-winning City Twitcher’s Garden,  sponsored by Living Landscapes, designed by CouCou Design, and exhibited at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.

Project detail

Positioned in a small 6.5 x 6.1m plot, this design illustrated how an urban garden could be bird-friendly without compromising on style. Providing food and a home for birds is becoming increasingly important in the urban environment and this compact garden offered both.

The City Twitcher’s Garden design incorporated a patio area to eat and entertain in and a raised bed to grow organic herbs. There was also a woven willow bird hide and a small tree to hang bird feeders. The back fence also featured bird boxes and insect houses. A hedge, water rill and pond provided shelter, habitat and water for the wildlife, and added to the overall look of the design. A chamomile and sedum lawn completed the design, to encourage birds and wildlife into the garden. The willow hide and raised bed were hand made by sculptor Carole Beavis.

Circles are a motif throughout the garden, transforming the small, angular plot into something much more organic.

Comments

“When I first saw the garden, the snug dimensions of the globe wicker structure puzzled me. Then… I realised it was a bird hide, woven by willow sculptor Carole Beavis. I must have been experiencing sensory overload at the time. (Hampton Court can be like that). You would have thought the bird houses on the walls, the log pile to attract insects and the wildlife-friendly flowers might have been a clue that this is an urban bird watchers’ garden. Even the cushion covers inside the hide have birds on them!”

“I love a chamomile lawn for its scent and feathery texture. This one was mixed with sedum which I would have thought might have been a little delicate, but I suppose a Hampton Court Garden doesn’t see much footfall.

"The flowers in the largely white planting scheme continued the theme. Globe shaped alliums and round lily pads, the almost circular roses, campanulas, and the weighty hydrangeas but it was the linear white foxgloves snaking around under the tree that drew my eye”