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RHS Chelsea 2011 Medals Day

With over a year of preparation and only a few weeks to construct these temporary gardens, the gardens are completed.  The Queen has visited and the results are in!

Mark Gregory and Her Majesty The Queen with Nigel Dunnett at the New Wild Garden

GOLD for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne – Australia Garden

SILVER GILT for the Royal Bank of Canada – New Wild Garden

We are really pleased with our results and hope that all the show visitors will continue to enjoy the gardens throughout the week.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the celebrities we spotted yesterday!  Hope to have some pictures of Mark Gregory meeting the Queen later on…

Mark cleaning the pools before the Queens visit!

Nigel Dunnet, Royal Bank of Canada sponsors and Matthew Wilson

Australia Garden – Finishing Touches

The final weekend before the judges come in!  It’s all hands on deck in the Australia Garden. Check out the final instalment of the Journey of Water video for more.

Jim is in his element here – tweaking and titivating!

Jim Fogarty doing some last minute tweaking with Catherine.

The RBG Melbourne Planting Team are completing the planting, trimming and laying the sand.

The Landform Team are making the final touches to all the detail and cleaning everything up just in time for the cameras to come in.

Andy Sturgeon was the first to film on the garden with the BBC and he said that we are making show history by using entirely native/indigenous plants.

Andy Sturgeon filming for the BBC

Joe Swift and Mark Gregory filming for the BBC

Australia Garden – 3 days until judging!

Only three days to go!

The full Australia Garden Team, including a familiar face who's joined for the planting - Andy Sturgeon!

Jim Fogarty and the Team will spend the next few days making the finishing touches to the construction and the planting to make the garden look at it’s best.  But the garden has come on leaps and bounds in the last few days.  Here’s a link to the latest RBG Melbourne You Tube video with updates from Jim and Mark B on site.

Completed Fireplace Seating area and planting going in.

Jim Fogarty and the RBG Melbourne Planting Team have started putting the plants into the garden, by the Pavilion and the Mountain Gorge Water Feature.

Jim Fogarty co-ordinating the RBG Melbourn Planting Team

Sand Dune & Waterhole

Over the last few days, the Landform Team have been building the Sand Dune, installing the Salt Sculptures and building the Waterhole.

The next major test is the Boomerang Water Feature:

The Journey of Water

The Australia Garden’s story is about water.  The garden starts with the desert and a desert Waterhole.  The Boomerang Water Feature symbolises a river and is the next part of the water’s journey through the garden.  Water comes up from an “artesian bore” below ground and bubbles up to the surface at the left hand side of the river.  The river then runs along the length of the water feature to the right hand side where it cascades at the overflow and goes back down into a ground aquifer and on to the Mountain Gorge…

The Boomerang is formed in concrete blockwork, which is rendered and fibre-glassed and finished off with a mild-steel surround which has been painted black.  The final stages will see a “Q-Quartz” trowel finish applied to the surface which gives an intense blue colour, and is then set when it is filled with water.  The Team will be pleased when this is finished – as water features are always a worry!

Australia Garden – Day 15

Progress on the garden is coming on in leaps and bounds now with less than a week to go until judging.

Progress on Day 15.

Dry Riverbed Paths

The Team have been working on the Dry Riverbed Paths in the garden and it’s a time consuming job, since it involves impregnating pebbles of various sizes into mortar.  First of all they place the larger stones and then position the smaller stones around them to make the pattern.  The pebbles are then covered in a slurry mix and rubbed off.  When the path is finished, Paul will acid wash and seal the entire surface – so the race is on to get this done, so that the planting can begin in earnest and the garden can be finished off.  Even Catherine came down on Saturday and Sunday and got stuck in to help!  It’s all hands on deck!

Sand Dunes Wall Sculpture

For the Sand Dunes Wall Sculpture, fibreglass wall panels are painted with a sand textured finish.  Rav is working on concealing the joints between the panels, by throwing red sand into the joints.

Tree Planting

The main construction work has to be completed before the planting can really begin.  In the meantime however, the team can get the trees main structural trees into position.  For more on the RBG Melbourne Planting Team and updates from designer Jim Fogarty – have a look at these films on You Tube: RBG Melbourne Film – The Journey of Water

 

The Team planting a Livistonia.

The Team planting a Livistonia.

 

The Australia Garden

The road to Chelsea started in September 2009, when Jim Fogarty presented an inspiring talk at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne annual “Director’s Dinner” event for members of the Director’s Circle and major benefactors and donors to the Gardens. At the end of the presentation, some of the major long-term supporters approached Jim and Dr Philip Moors (Chief Executive and Director, RBG) to talk about potentially entering the Australian Garden at Chelsea for 2011. A working group was formed with some key Australian business identities, and the project commenced 22 months out from the May 2011 show.

Here is the design for the Australia Show Garden revealed!

RBG Melbourne Australia Garden

Designed by Jim Fogarty

The garden features a Pavillion, Boomerang water feature pool, a water hole, salt sculptures and native Australian flora.

Landform Consultants are building the garden for Jim Fogarty and the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne.  The setting out for the build at the Chelsea Flower Show ground started on Tuesday 3rd May, but we have been working on this garden since Summer 2010 in preparation with our team of specialists.

The Chelsea build is being led by our foreman Mark B.

The garden will be relocated to Capel Manor College after the Chelsea Flower Show.