J.Parker’s (www.jparkers.co.uk), a Manchester-based family-owned business celebrating 90 years in the plants and bulbs industry, takes home three awards at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park last week .
Following its long-anticipated attendance, the company earned the People’s Choice Show Garden award, but also Best Construction and the Silver Gilt Medal.
After the show, the garden will be fully relocated locally to the campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, which was involved in a complementary nature-based research project. This was an important asset to the garden, helping the company better understand how the concept impacts observers and gauging their perceptions.
The garden design concept, named ‘Chained to Tech’, focused around bringing awareness to mental health among young people and highlighted the role that ‘addiction to technology’ is having on the wellness of younger people. The timeliness of the concept is reinforced by the results revealed by media watchdog Ofcom: out of fifteen million internet users in the UK, a third admitted they spent too much time online and missed out on spending time with loved ones. Fifty-nine per cent admitted that they were ‘hooked’.
The garden, created with the help of Everest Garden Landscape, incorporated both hard and soft landscaping ideas to tell the story, including a selection of different coloured and textured plants to symbolise issues that technology addicted younger people may face such as: stress, anxiety and attention deficiency.
Paul Duiker-Parker, managing director at J.Parker’s, says, “We are absolutely thrilled to collect three reputable awards at this year’s show. As well as delivering a thought-provoking concept, Rachel Platt, the garden designer we partnered with, has also produced a garden that encapsulates Parker’s product offering – bold, colourful and ambitious. I’d like to thank everyone involved in the production of the garden and look forward to seeing Rachel’s career develop.
“Our contemporary theme, ‘Chained to Tech’, was a topic that’s close to our hearts as a family-run business. With links to Manchester Metropolitan University, making a long-lasting and valuable impact on society was ultimately the goal for our garden this year. We have seen first-hand the positive impact horticulture can have and hope this garden has contributed towards educating as many people as possible.”
The awarded design used a mass of physical components typically associated with technological devices. Polished brass strips were used along the ground and on walls. Rebar, abstractly representing technological cables, decorated the arbour and fence line. Even laser-cut panels were used to mimic circuit board patterns. To create a textural concrete finish, recycled Shou-Sugi-Ban timber and the Corten effect steel were used throughout the design. The shape of a USB socket inspired the artwork behind the arbour and the pattern of the path.
Drought-tolerant and low-maintenance plants can look quite weathered, and because of this they were used to represent the dry eyes caused by excessive screen use. Even the planting scheme was considered and featured a mass of bold colours and shapes – mimicking the anger and frustration one might feel while also simulating the instant gratification and euphoria that’s experienced when using technology. Plants of distinction within the garden included Chamomile nobile ‘Treneague’, Coreopsis ‘Limerock Passion’, Cordyline australia, Cynara Carndunculus, Dahlia ‘Kelsey Annie Joy’, Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe’, Punica granatum and more.
Although the overall design was inspired by the physical effects technology can produce, the goal was also to encourage young adults to spend more time outside. A hanging chair was included within the design, providing a relaxing setting that encourages social interaction. It overlooked the garden, hoping to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression as people observed nature.
To achieve this show garden, J. Parker’s worked with a talented garden designer at the start of her career, who was the runner-up in last year’s People’s Choice Young Designer Garden awards. Rachel Platt recounts, “The concept really resonated with me, having seen the impact of technology addiction myself and I hope it was meaningful and impactful to others as well. Show visitors were very excited to see a lot of interesting shapes, forms, with a very cool, calming effect. I’m extremely grateful to everyone involved in the construction of our show garden – it takes a huge effort from a large number of people and I’m thrilled with the results. I’d also like to thank J.Parker’s for their continued support and look forward to seeing the garden in its final destination.’
In addition to the show garden, a plant village display garden was designed by the RHS-certified garden expert Hannah Rowson. The colour theme related back to the show garden and included drought tolerant and pollinator-friendly plants, but also plants supplied through mail order. The cottage-style border full of colour was meant to inspire people through its accessibility, not leaving them feeling intimidated by it.
