The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge

What is the point of designing something that gets removed after its built. Never really understand it myself. I think i may be a lost cause!

 

Some of the chelease ones go to live else where permanently after

The programme i guess doesnt but im sure all the pants are reused

 

I'm not sure that's a good idea when you see the look on the contestants faces come judging time

 

Haha oooooppppssss

 

I'm sure you're right Dips, what I know about design could be written on a postage stamp I just wonder what makes these so called 'experts' experts!! Looking at some of the architecture we now have and also what is deemed as 'good' art, I seriously doubt that they are always right!!

 

They are not @val but then design is kind of a contradiction there are no wrongs but there are still rules to follow

Its also down to taste and trends as well

There is plenty of architecture that has won prices that i cant stand. I hate the new birmingham library but love the old John Madin one but then i quite like brutalist architecture and think concrete can be beautiful and a lot of people hate.

But you have eyes Val and therefore you know what looks good to you and although you may not know the name of certain design styles and everything thats gone into the design if your looking at it or using it then you have an opinion on if it is functional, ergonomic or beautiful

 

Tonights episode so far is making me giggle a bit with the one guy having to learn building techniques. As a designer you have to be knowledgable about it all. I use to hate our building contrustion lectures and tests but if your are going to design hvac systems that are viewable in a scheme or your adding walls etc you need to know how they are made/built/installed to design it.

Still got my building construction illustrated book. Cant say i have looked at it since leaving uni but it may come in handy one day.

 

Thanks for posting about this, I didn't know it was on and have just watched all of them back-to-back. I don't usually like this sort of programme but only being 4 parts it was short enough.

 

Last nights program when I heard the mention of Gertrude Jekyll I thought ey up this is more like it...I did like the story Sean told with his garden but the planting didn't quite do it for me.It must take a lot of thinking trying to fit these designs into such a small space to include the main elements without losing the effect and causing confusion.I'm pleased he won,good on him

 

Yes but to what the judges see and want to see. So they have their own tastes etc and mould the enterant to their image imo. Everyone has their own styles and techniques but at the end of the day if a garden looks good at the end of the day who cares about how it was done?

 

I disagree quite often in this programmes judges say this isnt my taste or style but the design works so well etc

Design isnt just about looking good tho. So a garden can look good and look amazing but be really badly designed. Design has to be functional and beautiful. If it was all just about it looking good then it would Art.

Like they said in the programme with things like access and where you can walk and planting choices and how plants grow all these needs to be spot on as well as looking good.

 

Yeh i liked this garden a lot. I agree with the planting and i agree with the judges i thought it should be more wild the one side of the wall. I loved the little touch of the boots tho that was nice

I was really excited about the other guys garden the botany one (watched every episode and no idea any if there names) and i liked it but it was lacking something. Not sure what but i felt it wasnt strong enough

The other guys design was lovely but boring and looked like so many things already done. Shame he spent too much and couldnt afford the trees as i think they would of looked much better than the grasses. The three grasses just got lost

 

So just watched tonights Chelsea Show and I didn't understand why the winner of this show's garden at Chelsea couldn't be judged? was it specified in the show that his garden would not be judged or was it not up to scratch? he seems to have been given some glass vase from ikea instead...

 

I have just caught up with the coverage

The prize was only ever to design a garden at chelsea they never specified whether it was being judged

It didn't seem to be a part of the fresh or artisan gardens so i guess wasn't in a section that gets judged. Maybe it was just an extra

 

I was really keen to see the show at first, but then went off it when I realized that that by 'amateurs' they actually meant vastly knowledgeable gardeners who were sort of on their way into the industry anyway. I was hoping a few eccentrics who'd only ever pottered around their own patch to create havoc and liven things up a bit, but it was largely talented folk who knew the importance of materiels, design etc which made it all a little Changing Rooms for my taste. But then maybe it would be unrealistic to expect proper amateurs to be able to pull off such a challenge. The winning garden came across on TV as a bit 'Meh' to me, so i'm looking forward to seeing in in the flesh on Saturday