Gardeners from the Okehampton area have scooped two gold medals at this year's Chelsea Flower Show. Peter Harkett, of pH Gardens in Exbourne, received a gold medal for the show garden he built for internet gardening supplier crocus.co.uk And Tim Penrose, of Bowden Hostas in Sticklepath, received gold for his display of plants in the show's grand pavilion. Peter left the tranquility of Exbourne on May 1 to start work on constructing his garden While Crocus supplied the plants and designer Jinny Blom came up with a plan for the garden, Peter, who has been gardening professionally for more than 20 years, was responsible for the down-to-earth organisation which turned an idea and a huge pile of plants into a prize-winning garden. 'I started getting all of the structures for the garden built months ago, commissioning them from metalworkers and builders,' Peter said. 'Then I had to organise for all of the workmen and materials to be at Chelsea at the right time. I've been working on the actual garden itself on site since May 2.' The show gardens at Chelsea are built to a tight timetable. 'Chelsea is always a bit crazy. You can't afford to stray at all from your schedule,' Peter said. 'We had rain in the final weeks while I was trying to get some pools finished, but you just have to carry on. We worked lots of long days and didn't take any days off.' The garden, sponsored by Laurent-Perrier champagne, was inspired by 'the journey of life' and contains ponds, naturalistic planting, and a number of moon shapes, including a floating lunar gate and a seat framed by a red sandstone disc — all representing different stages in life. It will be on show to the public for just one week. 'Chelsea is so artificial. When we arrive, there's just a big grassy field there,' Peter said. 'We create the gardens and then after a week, everything's taken apart and it goes back to being a field again.' This year's medal was the third gold in a row for Bowden Hostas, and as the first year that Tim and Ruth Penrose had built all of the display of 85 plants themselves, it was a particularly special prize. Tim said: 'We had a true Devon team this year and we won it despite having a puncture on the way to the show; despite our packing material being accidentally mulched; and despite a sniffer dog crashing through the display just before the judging!' Despite such anxieties and tensions, both of the West Devon gardening teams hope to be at the show again next year. In the meantime, Tim Penrose is heading back to Devon to open his gardens to the public this weekend, while after three weeks of garden construction Peter Harkett is looking forward to a rest - 'I can't wait to get back home to Devon,' he said.
