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Trevor Tooth Finds Italian Inspiration for Chelsea Flower Show 2008

31st March 2008: With the countdown to the show now in full swing Trevor has been busy with the practical, yet highly creative, process of sourcing plants for his show garden. In order to find extra-special plants for his design, Trevor recently travelled to Italy to visit a vast plant nursery called Innocenti & Mangoni Piante in the Italian city of Pistoia. Here he found some real horticultural gems to complete the vision of his Chelsea 2008 garden design.

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Day 1 - Saturday

Got up here this morning. Exciting to see a crane in position all ready to go. Apparently on the Friday we had a bit of a muck up and we couldn’t get our crane in for many reasons. But today we got the crane in and our large, 4m concrete platform coming in and I just can’t wait to see it. It’s very exciting but it’s going to be nerve-wracking watching it being placed onto the pedestal and giving it that feeling of counter-levering and floating. It’s going to be amazing to see, so lets hope it all goes well.

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Day 2 - Sunday

Yesterday went well, we managed to get the main platform in and now it’s all about linking up the final pathways. We got some of them in yesterday and you can really start to see the garden taking shape and feel that each pathway link to each concrete platform. It’s really exciting. The crane people have been amazing: the guys have worked very hard since Wednesday getting ready. I just came in to see this stage of the works and we’ve had to make some adaptations but tomorrow the main thing we’re going to be doing is getting in the oak walls. Once they’re in, construction - in some parts - is finished.

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Day 3 - Monday

Very tired today, it’s been quite an exhausting weekend for us all. I’ve had to make some key decisions to change some of the oak walls as they lay out of the site seemed slightly different but that was exciting because what that’s actually done is, I think, made the design even better and stronger and I hope that’ll show in it’s final outcome once we get to planting. Can’t wait to see some plants go in the garden. Today I’ve got a willow going in which we’ll need to construct around, but as long as that goes well, I’ll be happy.

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Day 4 - Tuesday

Today is probably one of the most exciting days. I’ve got my big trees coming in today from Italy that we went over and selected; these are the Lagerstromia, Cordylines, Quercus Suberand the bamboos which I’m hoping are going to be stunning. We’ve got the crane in position and everything’s arrived. Eventually the Italian driver found us. Even though we’re in Chelsea in the middle of London it took him 3 hours to come from Sevenoaks which we found quite amazing, but he’s here! So the trees are looking good; we’ve got to really work hard to get them all into place and it’s going to be a late one.

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Day 5

Finally we have managed to plant all the specimen trees and after a lot of tinkering we are really happy with the positioning. We also have to have all the constructions complete by Monday.

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Day 6

I have had a day away from the Chelsea site to check on all the plants and how they are doing. I am hoping that they will all be in flower at the right time. I will keep you posted!!

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Inspiration
Day 1
Saturday
Day 2
Sunday
Day 3
Monday
Day 4
Tuesday
Day 5
Day 6

About the Lloyds TSB Garden

Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets is delighted to be sponsoring Trevor Tooth to design our second show garden at Chelsea Flower Show.

The garden called Travellers Retreat is exactly that; a place of retreat for those who have travelled throughout the world. Trevor has drawn inspiration from the work of the legendary architect – Frank Lloyd Wright as well as his own journeys to Italy and the USA.

Click on the interactive elements below to find out more about the design process for the garden.

Interactive garden

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About Lloyds TSB

Find out more about the Lloyds TSB journey to the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show

About Trevor Tooth

Find out more about the Lloyds TSB journey to the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show.

Kids Corner

Kids! Click here for some fun and games to print off and keep!