Capel Manor, London’s leading land-based College, are celebrating winning Silver-Gilt and Silver medals for their unique exhibits at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2018, both of which are designed and developed by students and staff.
The College have partnered with the Metropolitan Police Service for many years and currently have a Secured by Design (SBD) garden on display for the public at their Enfield Centre.
SBD, the national police crime prevention initiative, supports the principles of ‘designing out crime’ through physical security and processes. Capel Manor and the Met Police built on the SBD initiative to showcase a safe, secure and sustainable urban garden at Hampton Court, raising awareness about crime prevention, and winning a Silver medal for their efforts.
A brief was submitted to Capel Manor College’s Garden Design and Plantsmanship Foundation Degree students; the competition was to create a secure urban garden. Lucy Glover and Jaqueline Poll were joint winners and are delighted to build their first Hampton Court garden. The aim is to demonstrate the Secured by Design and sustainability features in a striking, urban garden.
The garden has a calming atmosphere with tones of grey in the hard landscaping, a reflection pool and soft relaxed planting including beautiful perennials and grasses. Security measures include columnar trees and the rotating bars of the pergola to preventing climbing. Green screens are used to provide a sustainable secure privacy fence solution along the boundaries and to offer air cleansing properties. Prickly plants and gravel placed close to the house act as a further deterrent.
As part of the garden’s ethos of helping the community the plants used in the garden will be relocated to two community groups and a primary school in a deprived area of London. Capel Manor College’s School of Floristry also have a long history of success at Hampton Court. This year the College floristry business, Manor Flowers, exhibit at the Show for the first time, achieving a Silver-Gilt medal for their floral spider’s web design.
The exhibit, designed and built by College florists and students, is inspired by the intricate work of the spider and the woven elements of a spider’s web. The free standing 3D design includes a combination of white flowers, such as Orchids and Kalenchoe, complemented with trailing vines, succulents and other foliage material to create a netted effect. The floral web is made of small wooden log slices and fresh floral material, and features a handmade spider.
Malcolm Goodwin, Principal at Capel Manor College, said: “Creating exhibitions at the prestigious RHS Hampton Court Flower Show is another example of how our students are presented with fantastic opportunities to develop their skills and have fun while studying. We encourage students to get involved from the initial idea phase to the creation of exhibitions as this real-world experience is invaluable for preparation to work or higher study.”
