Public being asked to help create 2010 Ellerslie exhibition garden
Gold award-winning Ellerslie International Flower Show garden designer Carl Pickens will be calling on the Christchurch community to help create his exhibition garden for next year’s Show.
The sustainable landscape architect and organic horticulturalist has “been inspired by an concept which invites people to contribute their ideas for creating a sustainable world”.
Details of the design are being kept under wraps until next month when Carl will ask the community for its help. He did say, however, that it would have “a significant engineering component” and be designed using the same sustainable principles within a contemporary setting which won him gold at this year’s Show.
Carl’s award-winning 2009 Ellerslie garden, Take Five, showcased such ideas as how to reduce the amount of water needed by planting natives which needed little moisture; used mulch to help the soil hold water and stop it drying out; added nutrients to the soil through composting and worm farms; reduced the incidence of chemicals in the garden; and used materials sourced from sustainably managed industries. It featured a rain garden, ecodeck, green walls, and no-mow lawn.
“Next year’s garden will be more interactive. I want visitors to Ellerslie to feel uplifted and inspired when they visit the garden. I will be asking people an important question and incorporating the answers within the garden. I want everyone to start thinking about sustainability.”
The garden will be built from untreated, sustainably grown timbers, recycled materials and feature some rare and threatened native plants.
Carl says exhibiting at Ellerslie this year was a fantastic experience and had been “great for business”.
“I received a lot of exposure for One Earth Matters and our sustainably focused principles, and as a result have been busy this past six months.”
Carl says while it would be nice to win another gold at Ellerslie in 2010, his garden will be “really different and I’m not entirely sure how the judges will receive it”.
“Winning awards is a bonus however; most important is staying true to the core principles of inspiring, sustainable design.”
Ellerslie International Flower Show is New Zealand’s premier week-long Garden Party in Christchurch’s North Hagley Park from 10 to 14 March. The Show celebrates Christchurch’s Garden City heritage and the best of national and international garden design. Check out the website for further information www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz
