Fab Gardens At Malvern

Back To The Future is the name of this wonderful garden and it was designed and built by the pupils (groups 5-8) of the  Parkside Middle School in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

The garden theme was reduce, reuse and recycle and they certainly did. Just look at that fantabulous greenhouse made from plastic bottles. And if you think they threw away the bottles tops, think again!

Isn't this the best reuse of plastic bottle tops ever? And it's so very pretty too, not to mention colourful. It was a dull day that first day of the Malvern Flower Show but this perked us all up.

Here are two of the culprits pupils responsible for creating this absolutely gorgeous garden where sustainability plays a major part. It was fun meeting these two lovely girls who were so proud of their garden, and rightly so, and they both did an excellent PR job as well.

These junior gardeners & designers also grew many of the plants themselves, including herbs and vegetables. And you haven't heard the best bit yet; they also have their own allotment at school. Suddenly I wish I was a pupil there, don't you?

 This garden shows how easy and wonderful it is to reuse plastic bottles. The pupils from the Parkside Middle School not only used the bottles to built a fab greenhouse, the bottle tops to create the most wonderful murals but also used the bottle bottoms to create a plastic bubble path and a bird feeding station as well. It took a lot of bottle to design and create a brilliant garden like this. Well done!

Another most fantabulous garden that made my heart sing was this one created by the students in the supported learning area of Herefordshire College of Technology. Isn't it just the best? It's called The Time Machine and it takes us on a journey from the very first Malvern show in 1985 to the future in 2035.

Have you spotted their colourful greenhouse made from plastic bottles? Bottles were a bit of a theme  at Malvern and so was sustainability, no doubt about that. Inside the greenhouse loads of hightech stuff that put the Doctor's sonic screwdriver to shame. And anyway, who wants a lame Tardis when you can have a greenhouse like this?

Loved the green wall and the scarecrow in the back too! A big thank you to the students who showed me around and whose enthousiasm was so infectious. You have created a wonderful garden; well done to each and everyone of you!

From a designer's point of view I thought that most of the gardens designed and built by children and teenagers made some of the show gardens designed by adults look a bit meh. The above is garden design at its best; no rules, no bounderies, no what-will-the-neighbours/other-designers-think attitude but pure fun and joy as that is what gardening is all about. At least it is for me.

copyright 2010 Y.E.W. Heuzen