'It is a dream come true' garden inspired by Mary Anning to be exhibited at the 'holy grail' of flower shows.
A container garden inspired by famed fossil hunter Mary Anning will be makings its debut at one of the UK’s biggest flower shows.
Garden designer Julie Haylock and her husband Andrew are first-time exhibitors at the Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show. Their exhibition is titled ‘The Mary Anning Space to Learn Garden’.
At the end of the show, elements of the garden will be relocated to Charmouth Primary School in time for its 30th-anniversary open day.
Mrs Haylock said: "I am very excited, apprehensive and nervous in equal terms. It is a fantastic opportunity and I feel very humbled by the support from people who have allowed me to follow my garden design dream.
"It is something I have dreamed of for a long time. It is the holy grail of flower shows."
Julie and Andrew Haylock are from Sandhurst Garden Design and are based in Yeovil.
The garden they plan to create is designed for a small group of primary school-age children and uses nature, fossils, geology and plants to spark and inspire their imagination.
It is entered into the Container Garden category, which is for newcomers to the show. Competitors use space only three or four meters across to create a garden to impress the judges.
Mrs Haylock added: "What I have done is create an outdoor learning space for children. The idea is you choose containers in an exciting and interesting way. My idea is to have hollowed-out tree stumps which I will use as plant pots.
"Thank you to our main supporters, 'All Green', 'The Gardens Group' and 'Desert to Jungle'. I couldn't do it without you."
Composition stone ammonites are set between the large crazy paving steppingstones, engraved with the school yard tongue twister ‘She Sells Seashells on the Seashore’, reportedly written about Mary, challenges the children to recite the rhyme as they step from stone to stone leading them to discover the fossil remains of the Plesiosaurus.
The hollow tree trunk containers that resemble volcanoes, normally a waste product of the forestry industry, are planted with Jurassic effect plants, including the Wollemi Pine a true living fossil dating back to the time of the dinosaurs and once thought to be extinct.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show takes place at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London from Tuesday, May 23 to Saturday, May 27.
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