Entrancing Southend garden lands Hampton Court bronze
Published Monday 5th July 10 in Council - news and information releases news
A garden created to captivate children also won the admiration of judges when it clinched Southend a well-deserved bronze award at the Hampton Court Flower Show.
The spectacular and innovative Playful Garden was designed and made by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's expert parks staff, with support from the playground equipment company Hags Play Ltd and the Department for Education.
As well as catching the eagle eyes of the judges it also attracted a huge amount of interest, from the early design stage right through to planting and completion.
Its unique features, including an upside-down garden and an underground garden, where children can crawl through a tunnel to see roots growing and run down a grassy spiral to a tree they can climb, proved a hit with everyone.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Culture, Councillor Derek Jarvis, said: "Congratulations to our terrific parks technical team for their achievement.
"The Playful Garden has unlocked a way for youngsters and adults to discover and explore the enjoyment and fun of the natural world and fully deserves its bronze award.
"It is an exceptionally inspiring exhibit and is proving to be a magnet for all who see it and want to play in it.
"We are very grateful indeed to Hags Play Ltd and the Department of Education, who have both helped make this garden possible.
"The Council was granted Playbuilder Status which enables us to refurbish play spaces across the Borough and those we have upgraded so far are really proving their worth."
Peter Faulkner, Area Sales Manager from Hags, said: "HAGS Play Ltd is pleased to partner Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, which is forward-thinking and understands children's need for exciting and challenging areas in which to play, develop and learn.
"The Council also recognises the inspiration and motivation for communities to take ownership of, improve and care for their outdoor recreational spaces.
"HAGS Play Ltd considers the inspirational design of the Playful Garden to reflect the skill, passion and understanding of the Council in showing how important outdoor space is to people of all ages."
The Royal Horticultural Society's Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is open to the public from Tuesday 6th July until Sunday 11th July. For more details contact: http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/Hampton-Court-Palace-Flower-Show/2010 or call 0844-338 7524.
For more information about Hags Play Ltd go to http://www.hags.co.uk/