Garden Shows – a missed opportunity

[James Dawson]

This is an excerpt from my latest blog post….

With MIFGS dead and buried and winners announced at Chelsea, I started to think about the show gardens that are built and what they are for.

When I first presented at MIFGS my focus was not about winning a medal (which, at the time I thought I had bugger all chance of doing) but about simply about presenting a good design.

At a garden show you get a great opportunity to take the design brief and push boundaries, trying things only the most adventurous client would allow you to do. There is a high degree of risk when taking this approach as you never really have any true idea of what you are going to get until it is sitting in front of you as a completed garden.

During my first show garden attempt I learnt that their was judging criteria for a show garden and at the time it was all too much to learn and adapt to so I ignored them. In the end it was the correct call as this criteria would have applied constraints to my work (as there were not enough of them dealing with MCC and OHS).

For me it is the public coming through the gate that are important, they are your  judge and jury and potential clients!

The public will always be appreciative of anything that is built, however it is the level of appreciation that makes the difference. For me the ultimate compliment is someone at the show inviting you to design their own private open space.

The goalposts have changed over the years when presenting show gardens. It’s all about winning medals. You can understand this as with the increase in sponsorship dollars. In many cases there is an expectation by the sponsors that there will be a medal, and if you dont get a medal they might not be back.

However. success can be measured in other ways; ongoing work results in increased patronage for your suppliers and contractors must be important. Isn’t that what the sponsors want? More money in the bank?
Many think that medals translate into increased work. This simply isn’t the case. I am living proof this, as are many other designers. If it did translate then designers would be cueing up at the shows and I can tell you they are not.

All this being said, my mind keeps returning to the thought that show gardens we see now (in the majority of cases) are missed opportunities. Opportunities to showcase great design.

Dont get me wrong, the gardens you see are very nice, however they are not exactly pushing any boundaries.

So what are the medals for??

“Ego, is not a dirty word, Ego, is not a dirty word” – Skyhooks.

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