WRAP UP - CHELSEA Flower SHOw 2007

Chelsea Wrap Up. June 8, 2007

The journey to Chelsea began for me on June 1, 2006 when Wes Fleming rang me and asked whether I would be interested in designing a garden for Chelsea in 2007. Without hesitation, “Yes” jumped out of my mouth. The design process began and when asked who should build the garden, my immediate answer was Kiama Landscapes. I consider Kiama to be the best in the business and a natural choice; Lump Sculpture and Gardens at Night were obvious inclusions as well. Nearly a year down the track as we flew out of Melbourne on May 4, I felt ready for it: the plans were finished, our three containers were waiting for us in London, and our team oozed commitment and competence.

In full construction uniform the majority of the team arrived in London 26 hours later. It was my third trip in the past 8 months and I was still finding myself in disbelief that I was actually there: living out a dream that few have lived. I could only imagine the excitement the younger guys at Kiama were feeling, not to mention Tim and Steve, their courageous leaders. It was about to happen, and with the exception of Scott Wynd, none of us had a clue about the next three weeks in London.

In hindsight the sixteen days of construction were a bit of a time warp. Describing working from 7.00am through to 9.00pm in mud and rain and single digit temperatures doesn’t conjure up much excitement, however I can honestly say at no time did I wish to be anywhere else. I think the boys from Kiama Landscapes, the faithful Wes, Jack and Leanne from Flemings, Timo and Chris from Lump Sculpture, Blair from Gardens at Night, Bluey the Brickie and Diggler the Chippie and even our intrepid photographer, Martyn felt it too. To work fourteen hours a day and have the crew starting new tasks at dusk was testament to the passion on display. It was not only the direct crew affected by this challenge to build the best garden possible, Anthony from Bio Gro and Steve Potts from the NGIV were in it too. Building contacts of mine, David Pontifex and Dean Atkinson had also jumped on for the ride and brought with them skills that rest of us could but only sit back and admire.

Not only were we a team on site, but also in public. To begin with the purple boots and pink uniforms were a little embarrassing but within a week of the build up, the whole team wore their gear with pride. Even in a city the size of London we were starting to become known as those wacky landscapers from Australia, national pride was upon us and it felt great. On the underground we were subject to comment changing from jovial homophobic innuendo to genuine interest in why we were in London. Over the period of the build up our team became synonymous with the Rose and Crown Hotel in Chelsea Bridge Road where most of us could be found sharing a round and a joke with the locals on the way home from the show.

The build up period washed over me like a tsunami, and as the imminent arrival of the show and masses bore down upon me I felt robbed of time; I had not wanted the fun and team spirit of building the garden to end. But time waits for no man, and before I knew it the judges had arrived and were about to assess our garden. On one hand I felt naked and cold and on show for all the world to scoff at, on the other I sat very comfortably in the garden I had designed for Chelsea, and especially proud of the quality and workmanship now on display. I felt confident we were up for a prize, if for no other reason that each and every member of the team deserved one for their commitment to the project. I also felt it was going to be a long day and half until we knew if that prize was forthcoming.

Media day came and went and I remember watching each and every crew member enjoying their obvious satisfaction with their respective roles in the garden we had all built. To me that was more important than meeting royalty or rubbing shoulders with celebrities. I reflected upon the past three weeks and realized how privileged I was; not only to be the designer of the Flemings and Trailfinders Australian Garden, but also to have spent the past three weeks with a stunning bunch of people.

On Tuesday morning, May 22, our entire team assembled inside the London Gate entrance to the show. We had made a decision not to proceed onto our site until we knew if there was a medal awaiting us. Wes’s phone rang a couple of time to which he abruptly answered: “We don’t know yet, don’t tell us!” He was of course referring to the medal status. Ironically the media and anyone else who wanted to know already knew how we had fared. The wait was excruciating! Wes got the word the medal was up so we then proceeded to our garden: Silver Gilt, the second top prize. What a huge relief and rush of pride I felt. A team of Australians had built a garden at Chelsea and been rewarded with Silver Gilt, unlike the previous gardens Flemings had taken to this, the most prestigious horticultural event in the world, our garden had never been built before and had been constructed by a team with little or no show garden experience. Our garden challenged traditional Chelsea values, having been described by the Daily Telegraph as “Over architectural on plan but could garner gold (or better) for fearless use of trees and shrubs over flowers”. Water Gardener Magazine summed up the garden: "Dramatic features seem challenging at first, but its like rock music that grabs you by the ears, this grabs the eyeballs". Our garden was bold, unique and distinctly Australian, everything I had set out to achieve was achieved.

I still feel incredibly honoured (and somewhat humbled) that a team of more that 20 highly skilled tradesmen and technicians worked like slaves on my dream. I could go on for hours outlining my appreciation to and each and every member of the team, rather than that I will conclude by saying that the past twelve months culminating with the past month has been the most satisfying year of my life and has reinforced the goodness of people in my mind. I hope everyone involved in the process looks back on it with as much honour as I do. What a phenomenal experience the Chelsea journey has been; twelve months of planning for the Olympics of gardening. Before the show I thought I was prepared for Chelsea, after all I had exhibited at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show three times and it is just a garden show on the other side of the world! For me, the Chelsea Flower Show is not so much about horticulture and landscaping, it is a journey into personal growth and team philosophy and I will always cherish the memory of Chelsea and the faith placed in me by Wes Fleming.

Mark Browning