Institute of Garden Design

04/08/2009 Institute of Garden Design tutor, Tracy Foster, awarded a Silver Gilt Medal and wins Best of the Henry VIII Wives Gardens at the Hampton Court Show 2009.

The garden was one of six commissioned by the RHS as part of the celebrations for the 500th anniversary since Henry VIII became king. Each garden represented one of his wives.

Tracy's garden was for Jane Seymour, who was pale and fair, quiet and subservient. She enjoyed her royal status and liked things to be done properly. She insisted that all the ladies who served her were dressed correctly - right down to their underwear and the number of pearls stitched to their gowns.

Tracy went for a simple, traditional layout in the style of a knot garden with herringbone paths and box and lavender hedges to give a neat and organised feel to reflect that aspect of Jane's character. The centre of the garden had a beautiful oak gazebo, carved with Jane's motto 'Bound to Obey and Serve' over the crossing of the paths. All the woodwork in the garden was made by 'History in the Making' and also included an arch back bench and four oak obelisks.

In the centre of the path, Tracy included a mosaic by artist Julie Cope depicting a Phoenix - Jane's emblem. Her family emblem was that of the peacock but that was considered to be too vain for her so she had to choose another. Real gold was used in the mosaic to flash like fire in the sunshine.

The planting was white and very pale to reflect Jane's appearance and cool temperament. Tracy included herbaceous plants with a loose, romantic feel to them - like Campanula lactiflora 'Loddon Anna', Lychnis coronaria 'Alba' and Sanguisorba tenuifolia 'Alba' along with climbers such as Jasmine, Clematis and Sweet Pea.

Jane produced Henry's only male heir so Tracy introduced a productive element in the garden in the form of traditional bee hives (skeps) and beds of herbs.

The garden was awarded a silver gilt medal and won Best of the Henry VIII Wives Gardens.

Actors visited the garden throughout the show - including Henry VIII, the six wives and the court jester!

22/07/2008 - Institute of Garden Design graduate, Mark Walker, wins a bronze medal at the Hampton Court Flower Show 2008.

Well done to Mark Walker who has won a bronze medal for his latest design - Distraction - A Hospice garden.

Distraction was partly built at Mark’s yard in Weston-Super-Mare, then loaded on to a lorry and taken to Hampton Court where it was put together like a flat pack kit and planted up a few days before the show.


Mark Walker in his bronze medal winning garden with Gardeners
World presenter Rachel de Thame.

22/05/2008 - Institute of Garden Design graduate, Mark Walker, is featured on the BBC Somerset website.

The BBC are following Mark at Hampton Court Palace Flower Show with his Distraction- A Hospice garden. You can read more about it on the BBC site by clicking here.

14/05/07 - Institute of Garden Design graduate, Mark Walker, wins a Silver medal for his Childrens Hospice garden at the 2007 Malvern Spring show.

Well done to Mark Walker who has won a silver medal for his Childrens Hospice garden 'The Sunken Retreat' at the 2007 Malvern Spring show (see image below). He is a successful graduate of our Diploma in Garden Design course.

The garden will now be re-erected at the new Childrens Hospice at Wraxall, Nr Bristol.

26/06/06 - Institute of Garden Design tutor, Tracy Foster, wins a Gold medal for her show garden at the BBC Gardeners' World Live 2006

Congratulations to Tracy Foster who won a Gold medal for her show garden at the BBC Gardeners' World Live 2006 in June 2006. Tracy Foster was a student with the Institute of Garden Design and is now an Institute tutor.

Tracy's design was called 'See Hear' (see image below). The RHS accepted Tracy’s design straightaway as they thought it was strong, simple and memorable and likely to attract a lot of attention. It has a coastal theme and contains some unusual plants as well as an original trompe l'oeil painting specially painted by Yorkshire artist Julie Cope." Tracy was interviewed and congratulated by Monty Don of BBC Gardeners World.