Shed Building Plans

Dalston Flower Show its blooming marvellous!

The Dalston Flower Show,  centered on the award winning Eastern Curve Garden, kicked off three weeks of floral festivities in Dalston last weekend.


It has been been attracting a lot of attention in the national press as well as our local press - being described as "a hub of Chelsea Fringe activity" and a "hipsters Eden" (Do hipsters mulch? Ed.).

photo © Exyzt


The old Eastern Curve railway line was first re-opened as a public space when the Dalston Mill was built in July 2009. Since that time, after a lot of hard work and community involvement, the garden was created and it has become a destination for the thousands who have attended the huge variety of events there over the last two years.



"We hope that this place will be a revelation to people," said Marie Murray, an OPEN Dalston member who tends the Eastern Curve Garden. "The No 1 reason for this garden was to be a breathing space which would allow children and adults to connect with nature. Tending a public garden teaches independence and civic pride – it is amazing the effect it has on people."

photo © Amina Marshall, an image of a flower growing in Dalston, submitted as part of the Dalston Flower Show.


Dalston Flower Show its blooming marvellous!

The Perfect Commute Show Garden for Malvern Spring Festival 2015

Almost certainly the most shedworkingy of this years show gardens will be The Perfect Commute, designed by Deborah Bird from Beholders Eye at this years Malvern Spring Festival. Heres how she described what looks like a must-see garden specially for Shedworking readers:

"The Perfect Commute is being created for a designer who runs a consultancy from their home. They have allocated a space at the end of their garden for their working area. The design is to be imagined as part of a larger space, sectioned off with a low boundary to demarcate the area from the rest of the domestic garden.  It has a sheltered indoor working area in the form of a building being supplied by The Posh Shed Company.  This is mirrored by a sunken seating area for relaxing and meeting clients.  The garden is bounded by Jacksons Venetian fencing, sat on top of steel gabions which will be backed with natural materials.

"A focal point of the design will be a metalwork sculpture by Paul Margetts, a sculptor from Worcestershire. This piece is called ‘Focus’ and will be positioned in a raised bed and surrounded by multi-stem birch trees and soft planting. Throughout the design, planting has been chosen for year-round structure with an emphasis on spring/summer flowering specimens for the show.

"The design was inspired by a desire to minimize the daily commute, an escape from rush hour queues and the encasement of fluorescently lit office blocks. (Truth be told, it’s me building my own personal fantasy)."

Inspiration for some of the design elements is detailed on a Pinterest page set up by Deborah and she will be writing a blog during the build and run up to the show.  The garden also has a twitter page @perfect_commute

I know there are many of you who like a full breakdown of garden details so here it is:


Designer:
Deborah Bird, Beholders Eye, Birmingham, 07931 728 007, beholders_eye@outlook.com
Diploma in Garden Design (Pickard School of Garden Design) | MA in Garden Design (Staffordshire University)
Previous awards: 2 x Bronze Medals at Malvern Autumns Shows; 2 x Silver Medals at Malvern Spring Shows and one ‘Best Border in Show’

Sponsors:
The Posh Shed Company, Eardisland, Herefordshire
Paul Margetts Sculpture and Metal-Work, Belbroughton, Worcestershire
Jacksons Fencing, Ashford, Kent
Nature First, Down Hatherley, Gloucester ----------------------------------------------------
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The Perfect Commute Show Garden for Malvern Spring Festival 2015

Jo Thompsons garden office for Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Shedworkings favourite garden designer Jo Thompson is putting together a lovely garden - A Sylvan Retreat - for this years Chelsea Flower Show. Commissioned by M&G (who sponsor the whole show), the garden is a retreat featuring a two-storey oak-framed shedworking structure inspired by author Vita Sackville-Wests writing room at Sissinghurst Castle. It also features a natural swimming pond, woodland area and a really beautiful garden. Jos sixth garden is being put together with her all-female gardening team. Well post updates on this as it unfolds...
 

Day 7: the steels are being bolted in, in preparation for the arrival of our writers retreat @MandGGarden pic.twitter.com/fFOr51VxIE

— Jo Thompson (@gardendesigner1) May 6, 2015

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Jo Thompsons garden office for Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Sheds at Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Off to #RHSChelseaflowershow tomorrow to see @PlantBelles garden & our hut. Apparently it's causing a bit of a stir.. pic.twitter.com/oNfvF7Rz8W

— Barrel Top Wagons (@barreltopwagons) May 18, 2015

For more photos of these and other working retreats, take a look at this post by Shedworkings literary editor Sarah Salway who was there yesterday for press day.

Nice alternative view of our ale-themed Chelsea Flower Show garden, Brewers Yard. pic.twitter.com/bTTpY0dMDX

— Tom Ashurst (@Tom_Ashurst) May 18, 2015

Love how autocorrect keep telling me this is a thug garden #rhschelsea2015 pic.twitter.com/0tzvHEPexP

— Sarah Salway (@sarahsalway) May 18, 2015

Here's another writer's retreat! Have always fancied writing in a greenhouse. #RHSChelsea2015 pic.twitter.com/wo2KmjZg2o

— Sarah Salway (@sarahsalway) May 18, 2015

Clever @gardendesigner1 and her writer's retreat garden at #RHSChelsea2015. Museful. pic.twitter.com/nNOaR5rPnQ

— Sarah Salway (@sarahsalway) May 18, 2015

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Sheds at Chelsea Flower Show 2015

Design a shed for the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

An exciting new feature called ‘Garden Hideaways’ will be established at the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2015, 22-26 July. It’s all about turning a shed into a beautiful and innovatively decorated hideaway.

"We give you a 6x4ft Shed," says Isobel Coulter, Assistant Show Manager. "You have ultimate creative power to transform the shed into a wondrous creation that no gardener has ever seen before.  The sheds should be designed as a haven at the bottom of your garden for sanctuary and creativity, a place that showcases your passions and interests.

"All designs must link in some way to gardening so that means there must be plants involved either in, around or all over your shed. You get to keep the shed afterwards or you can donate it to the RHS to find it a suitable home in the local community."

You can download an application form here and the factsheet is below.
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Design a shed for the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park