Green-fingered students prepare to wow judges

Horticulture students at Derby College Group are busy creating a show garden entry for this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

The students, who are all studying Level 3 Horticulture at the college’s Broomfield Hall site, are creating their show garden based on the recently renovated Wingfield Station.

The project team for the restoration of Wingfield Station engaged with the college early in the project, and students from the Broomfield site also began looking at a planting scheme for the station grounds. This sparked the idea for a show garden.

The horticulture study programme, which has been specially devised by the horticulture lecturer, Mike Baldwin, to bring together skills and knowledge in surveying, design, plantsmanship and construction – ideal for students who want to establish a gardening business.

As part of their part-time study programme, the students are each creating different elements of the show garden, which will be displayed at the event at Birmingham’s NEC in June.

Mike, who has led 34 show gardens projects to date, said: “It really is shaping up to be an impressive project.

“The team are creating an amazing garden full of highly imaginative planting, structural and unique features, which I am sure will amaze both the show judges and visitors alike.

“It is a great team effort, and everyone is working incredibly hard to create the different features of the garden and we will spend many more hours constructing this ahead of the BBC Gardeners World Live.”

Carleen Osbourne, who has designed the garden, said: “The garden encapsulates the restoration using two design themes: one showing the dereliction, with wild naturalistic planting, which will contrast with a second more structured and contemporary area representing the completed restoration.

“The station is the backdrop to the garden, which also shows the before and after aspects, with boarded-up windows, damaged roof and graffiti on one side, contrasting with the restored building on the other side.

“I am so excited to be given such a fantastic opportunity. And it is really good working with so many people with many different skills.”