This year, the Association of Professional Landscapers (APL) are once again building A Place to Meet garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, taking place from 2-7 July. The garden is designed by Cherry Carmen Garden Design, and the main contractor on the garden is Kebur Landscape Division.
The garden is however a true APL community build, with a total of 18 different member companies* involved in the garden, including the apprentices currently on the APL Apprenticeship scheme.
A Place to Meet showcases how to fuse the hard lines of contemporary construction with soft waves of naturalistic planting at home, revealing how small spaces can be modern and functional, while beneficial to nature. The garden provides areas to sit, relax, enjoy and entertain on balmy summer evenings, with a private plunge pool to soak away the stresses of hot summer days. Water features are used in the garden, demonstrating how typical materials are used in alternative ways to create focal points and features. Wildlife-friendly planting generates plenty of interest for pollinators and plants softer textures help soften the harder lines of the contemporary build.
Cherry Carmen began studying horticulture in 2009 achieving RHS horticulture levels 2 and 3. In 2012, she established Cherry Carmen Garden Designs, specialising in the redesign and realisation of large private gardens. Cherry won Silver at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2016 with her first show garden, won Gold at BBC Gardeners World Live 2017, and also designed The APL A Place to Meet garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018.
Kebur is committed to continually improving landscaping standards and a proud member of the APL. David Booton, Business Partner at Kebur, says:
“The APL gives us invaluable opportunities for learning and developing our landscaping practice and knowledge alongside other industry professionals. We are delighted to have been able to supply the stone and lead the hard landscaping for this APL garden.”
A huge thank you to the sponsors of the garden, Kebur Garden Materials, Garden House Design, Landscapeplus, and John Lewis Home Solutions.
* The APL member contractors involved in the build include: Kebur Landscape Division, Aaron Barclay Ltd, Artform Landscapes, Aura Landscapes, Bowood Landscapes, Conquest Creative Spaces, Designs By Sussex Landscape, Gardenscapes, HG Landscapes, Horti Services, Horticolous, Inside Out Home and Garden Improvements, LimeBok, MW Landscapes, Owen Thomas Gardens, Symbol Gardens, Taw Landscapes and Westend Landscapes.
www.landscaper.org.uk