Garden Design with Cleve West (16-3-15)
Almost a hundred people packed the Old School this evening. Members of the Gardening Club were there, but so were members of other nearby gardening clubs.
It was a sell out and they were not there just for the free glass of wine and nibbles—they had come to hear Cleve West describe how he came to win 5 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show.
He did not start out with any intention of being a garden designer. The seed was sown when he visited an elderly relative and became involved with her garden while he studied Art and Design at College.
Only after he had worked as a designer for a Publishing Company did he gradually drift into garden design.
After being left a small inheritance from that elderly relative, he started his own business and began to work alongside the well established, older, garden designer, John Brookes.
So, how does Cleve design a garden?
Ideas are sketched out on paper, then transferred to computer, then used to as a starting point in talks with craftsmen and contractors.
The completed gardens that won the medals were very much the result of a team effort.
The pictures below give a taste of the work and interests of Cleve West and also show some of the many people who enjoyed this evening.
The event raised over £1000 for the Marie Curie charity: a very satisfactory evening for everyone involved.
Tony Jarrow
Kew Gardens (16-2-15)
Have you been to Kew Gardens in the winter? Not many people have but 33 members of the Gardening Club were there this evening.
At least they were there in spirit as speaker Stuart Dixon returned to the Old School to escourt us around the world famous site with his many slides.
As well as his visual treats, he entertained us with facts and fancies about plants and flowers at the same time.
Did you know that Tea Roses were so named because they were first successfully transported to Britain by the East India Company with their ships—the clippers that carried tea.
Stuart may be 5 years older since he last visited us, but he has certainly lost none of his drive and enthusiasm for gardening and plants—or for giving a good show.
Below are just a few of his pictures from Kew Gardens.
To see pictures of his visit 5 years ago, click on "Early Summer 2010" on the right.
Tony Jarrow
