Reaseheath students gear up for RHS Flower Show Tatton Park
Reaseheath College garden designers and florists are gearing up for the prestigious RHS Flower Show Tatton Park (July 23 – July 27). We have an impressive medal record for our show gardens and floral designs and our students are hoping to add to the tally with this year’s entries.
Feast 291 A Taste of Wythenshawe
The show garden team busy growing on their vegetables
A team of Foundation Degree Garden and Landscape Design students, helped by fellow learners from all horticultural courses, are creating an edible show garden in the ‘Feast’ zone, an area which celebrates fresh produce and the joy of growing and cooking home grown food.
Sponsored by Wythenshawe Community Housing Group (WCHG), the garden incorporates innovative and creative approaches to growing edible plants including hydroponics and sculptural features. It celebrates Real Food Wythenshawe, a five year £1 million Big Lottery-funded community food campaign led by WCHG which promotes ways that people can grow their own fruit and vegetables and cook healthy, economical meals.
After the show the garden will be rebuilt in Wythenshawe Park, where it will be shared by the local community.
Said WCHG Chief Executive Nigel Wilson: “The Real Food Wythenshawe campaign supports and encourages residents to take control over what they and their families eat. It demonstrates that healthy eating is possible for everyone, regardless of age, budget, ability or time constraints.
“We are delighted to be partnering Reaseheath College with this innovative show garden and even more excited about the prospect of bringing it back home to Wythenshawe.”
The garden re-instatement at Wythenshawe will be carried out by members of the Turnaround team, who have also assisted in the show build. The Turnaround programme was developed by WCHG to offer training and potentially employment opportunities to those with criminal records. All team members have been trained by Reaseheath and have successfully gained their NPTC Level 2 horticulture award.
Inspire 149 Cheshire Gardens of Distinction
Reaseheath RHS students are helping to build a carnival themed show feature for the Cheshire Gardens of Distinction, which this year celebrates its 10th birthday. The group will be represented by eight leading visitor attractions: Arley Hall and Gardens, Adlington Hall and Gardens, Cholmondeley Castle and Gardens, Fryers Roses of Knutsford, Biddulph Grange, Norton Priory, Bluebell Cottage Gardens and Nurseries and the Cheshire Gardens Trust.
Reaseheath Horticulture lecturer Tracey Walker has helped to co-ordinate the stand, which is in the ‘Inspire’ zone, an area dedicated to cutting edge design and fresh ideas. Each of the eight gardens will feature ‘The Rose of Distinction’, a new floribunda rose being launched by Fryers Roses to celebrate the group’s centenary.
Floral Design Studio
Reaseheath florists will showcase their talents with a creative, carnival themed stand.
Five floristry students will also compete in the new Floristry College of the Year Competition. Level 3 Diploma in Floristry students Anna Eite, Zoe Sillito, Wendy Anderson, Carron White and Christine Roberts will be supported by Programme Leader for Floristry Sue Poole.
The students will create five designs using flowers with a colour theme of red, green and yellow: a mask, a wall hanging, an arrangement, a wired bouquet and a planted design. The winning college will go through to the final at the Chelsea Flower Show 2015.
Hopes are high for a good result, as Anna and Zoe won second and third places respectively at a recent WorldSkills UK competition.
WorldSkills UK Landscape Gardening Semi Finals
Talented Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horticulture Richard Carden will represent Reaseheath in this prestigious competition. He is one of eight students (divided into teams of two) challenged to build 2m x 6m gardens designed by Alexandra Froggatt.
Competition entries were the highest yet and Richard successfully completed a theory test and tie-breaker exercise to claim his place in the semi-finals. The judges will be Association of Professional Landscapers chairman Mark Gregory, garden designer and four times RHS gold medal winner Adam Frost, landscape firm owner Jody Lidgard and 2011 WorldSkillsUK medal winner Simon Abbott.
Winners from the RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will compete at the WorldSkills UK finals, to be held at The Skills Show, Birmingham NEC, in November. There they will fight for the national title in front of 70,000 people and will also be in the running for selection for the international WorldSkills Competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil, next year.
You can find out more about our Garden and Landscape Design, Horticulture and Floral Design courses on our website.
