29.03.07
University College Falmouth students selected to design garden for Chelsea Flower Show

An opportunity to design a garden at this year's Chelsea Flower Show is a dream come true for Aline Dejaegher, Debra Craig and Karen Narramore, all of whom are third-year students on University College Falmouth's BA (Hons) in Garden Design, an innovative course that runs in partnership with Duchy College at Rosewarne.

One of the most prestigious events in the gardening calendar, attracting over 150,000 visitors each year, as well as television viewers from around the world, Chelsea will provide these students with the enviable chance to take their place in horticultural history, before they even graduate.

Their vision for Porthgwyr (Green Harbour), a garden that combines a Cornish arts café with gallery space and contemporary style with sustainability, certainly caught the eye of the Royal Horticultural Society's selection panel and the students are now hard at work constructing their design before the big event in May, when it will be transported to London as a giant jigsaw to ensure the highest possible standards of construction on set-up day. Selected from hundreds of applications, the garden is one of only six to have been chosen for inclusion in the Chic Garden category.

"Our design is about celebrating the Cornwall of today, based on a new era of industry – education, creativity, innovation and tourism," explains Karen. "The design has been developed to allow a range of artworks to be displayed, on walls, within window apertures, set within planting and hanging from screens to illustrate the rich relationship between Cornish gardens, the coastal landscape, and Cornwall's vibrant, creative community."

Their seaside gallery space is defined by its strong, sensuous curves – a simple representation of the Cornish coastline – to provide 'safe harbour' for the artwork that has been created by students from University College Falmouth's BA (Hons) degrees in Contemporary Crafts, Fine Art, 3D Design and Textile Design. Ben Barrell's curved 'Crescent Bench' cantilevers over a pool of water. The shape, colour and texture of the planting has been designed to create an atmosphere of seclusion, privacy and quiet. A light, airy canopy reflects the openness of the gallery space whilst vibrant green and glossy silver foliage reflect available sunlight.

"We wanted to create a garden that captured the spirit of Cornwall, that made people stop and stare and that promoted sustainability so we are utilising environmentally sustainable materials, wherever possible," explains Aline. "Locally grown sweet chestnut decking from Tregothnan Estate will be lined with recycled glass setts produced by UCF BA(Hons) Contemporary Crafts students, Tammy Falls and Louise Batchelor, to mimic light on water; the walls will be coated in a natural lime wash of saffron provided by the Cornish Lime Company and Hardy Exotics Nursery has very kindly agreed to lend us several striking, mature specimens, while Trevena Cross and Duchy Nurseries are supplying the remainder of the plants we have selected. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the local businesses and craftspeople who have helped us on our way and in particular, University College Falmouth, Duchy College Rosewarne and The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation, without whose generous sponsorship our garden would not have been possible."

"Aline, Debra and Karen have devised a design that not only reflects their passion for horticulture, garden design and Cornwall, but also a wealth of inspiration drawn from their individual backgrounds," says BA (Hons) Garden Design Course Leader, Richard Sneesby, who is himself a Chelsea medal-winner.

Prior to enrolling on Falmouth's course, Aline, originally from France and Ireland, had studied forestry in Vancouver and sailed around the world for three years; Karen had worked in the animation industry on feature films for the likes of Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros; and Debra had relocated from Australia to London, but left her corporate career as a result of seeing a brochure about the course at Duchy Nursery during a Cornish holiday – so all of them had a global perspective to add to their knowledge and design expertise.

"Following on from the success of our Falmouth Designs exhibition in London at the Design Museum last November, Chelsea provides our design students with yet another high-profile opportunity to showcase their work to a national and international audience," adds Director of Design, John Miller. "We warmly congratulate Aline, Debra and Karen on their success so far, and very much hope that Porthgwyr attracts the attention it deserves."

The last word, though, comes from Debra: "Here I am about to complete my degree and Duchy Nursery are providing plants for our show garden at The Chelsea Flower Show – the fruition of pipedreams."

Porthgwyr may be the fulfilment of one ambition, but what is certain is that this talented trio is set to go far.

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall, a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through higher education. The CUC is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

For further information about BA (Hons) Garden Design: Arts & Environment at University College Falmouth, please visit: www.falmouth.ac.uk/gardendesign, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or contact Admissions on 01326 214382 (for the full-time option) or 01326 214383 (for the part-time route).

For information on the College's forthcoming Garden Design Summer School with award-winning garden designers, Richard Sneesby and Alistair Rivers, please visit: www.falmouth.ac.uk/business, email business@falmouth.ac.uk or contact Business Relations on 01326 370444.

For further information contact Jilly Easterby, Head of Public Affairs, University College Falmouth on 01326 213792 or email jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). University College Falmouth is a partner of the CUC.

Editor's notes:

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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