The setting of the scene…

Show gardens are very funny creatures. They take enormous amounts of energy and attention to the smallest detail. You have to be able to speak to landscaping contractors, schedule deliveries, source both plants and the most random of items and still be able to pull it all together at the end to enthral the public at an event which passes in the blink of an eye. And don’t get me started on the stress that is the judging.

So with all that to deal with, why do designers subject themselves to the ordeal?

Sometimes it is because you have a spectacular idea you cannot allow to sit and fester on the desk any longer. Sometimes you have a bee in your bonnet about a subject and want to educate through design.

Sometimes you have such a wonderful team to work with that you cannot pass up the opportunity. And so it is with us and the collective brought together for the Malvern Spring Gardening Show 2010.

The Three Counties Agricultural Society are wonderful people to work with – highly passionate about what they and others do – the ideal clients. They understand what it takes to put on the show, the importance of excellent horticulture and they are open to new ideas. Very rarely do you have such an open client team who really want to challenge both your own design skills and the boundaries that have been seen in past years.

And the rest of the design team, well, we sort of know each other from past shows, and being such diverse designers and characters, we were confident that each of us could bring a different viewpoint to the table.

And so the scene was set. Alex Bell Garden Design, James Steed of Outdoor Living Space and myself from Claire Potter Design as the central design team, supported other Malvern devotees such as Martin Clark Trees and Chris Greenwood from Poultry Park.

But would so many heads be better than one, or would too many designers spoil the broth?

To be continued... [Well, it is according to Claire's email when she sent this: it's entitled Guest Post 1 - Ed :)]