One year on...

Featured on Gardeners World - To have and to hold Long Border, RHS flower show Tatton Park

RHS flower show Tatton Park was a year ago… What's new since then?

It's been a very busy year both at work and home. I'm currently gardening for a diverse range of clients four days a week and fitting in design projects around that. I’ve worked on a range of gardens, from small planting plans to large full scale design plans.

At home, my wife gave birth to our first child, a little boy called Teddy. It's safe to say life is quite -- different. Like all parents, the pressure of supporting my wife and prioritising my role as a parent whilst earning money and building a small business is tricky. Being self employed has certainly helped with flexibility, but I feel the strain of work life balance now more than ever.

Looking back at the show, how do you feel about the experience?

I learnt so much by exhibiting at RHS flower show Tatton Park. Not only did it give me valuable design and build experiences but it helped me reflect on my personal style and what I want clients to value in my work. My steepest learning curve was managing the logistics. Finding suppliers, finances, organising, and crucially, setting time scales during the build.

What tips would you give anyone who wants to do a long border?

Use the support available. There is opportunity to ask questions in the run up to the show. Listen and act on feedback before, during and after the show.Seek financial support ASAP - contact potential sponsors, ask nurseries to loan plants in exchange for marketing, plan to rehouse your border to a paying client… I was very generously leased the moongate by Stark and Greensmith for the show, but paid for everything else myself. It cost a lot of money!

Have a back-up plan for everything and schedule your time. Something will go wrong and the build will go quickly! Planning everything will give you the confidence to move forwards quickly. Having a flexible attitude is essential.

Planting from RHS flower show Tatton Park, in my front garden at home

Where is the border now?

The feature moongate was lent to me by @StarkandGreensmith, so this was returned to them to be repurposed after the show. Some of the plants were sold to show visitors on the final day, but the majority went into my garden at home.

How has doing an RHS flower show impacted your business?

Exhibiting at RHS flower show Tatton Park hasn’t changed my business day to day, but it has given me amazing photos for my portfolio and website, an RHS medal to showcase on my CV and online socials and I had feedback on a project from some of the country’s experts. I made some wonderful contacts within the industry and met some lovely people to talk to about plants and gardens during the show.

Do you have plans to do another show garden?

I loved doing a long border. The people, the process and the visitors’ enthusiasm was incredibly motivating and inspiring. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with my medal to begin with, but on reflection, it has only made me more determined to have another go. The judges comments made total sense, and made me want push myself, learn more, and strive forward. I fear show gardens could be addictive. I’m competitive and love diving into a challenge, so yes, I would love to have another go at a show garden.

My main takeaway from my experience at RHS flower show Tatton Park was that being so far from home made it difficult to build local relationships and attract clients. So I hope to participate at Badminton House or Malvern next.

However, Shows are increasingly controversial. I don’t agree with some of the processes and logistics of putting some of the shows together. I also believe shows could be doing much more to advise and inform the general public about the reality of the industry. Builds cost money and have significant impacts on the environment. Especially if they are only in situ for a week and ultimately have nowhere to go following… I do struggle with the environmental and ecological impact which come with show gardens. So I will tread carefully to ensure I participate for the right reasons, and with an honest and thoughtful approach. I don’t want to build show gardens purely for business publicity and financial gain, but to celebrate or highlight an important cause or celebration, whilst always limiting the impact.

Where do you hope to be this time next year?

Come October, I’ll be starting my share of maternity leave, so once again there is lots of change ahead. My business and I will be squeezing into time I can find around family life. I hope to prioritise the design side of the company, enabling me to work more from home and focus on developing my portfolio. I intend to focus on improving my CAD and drawing skills, in the hope I can work with other designers and larger companies as a freelancer. This will give me flexibility to work around family life, but also lots more experience.