10th March 2010
Ellerslie exhibition garden to be gifted to Cholmondeley
Tauranga-based Incredible Edibles is gifting its exhibition garden (pictured above) at this year’s Ellerslie International Flower Show to Cholmondeley, a family support facility for Canterbury.
Incredible Edibles Director Andrew Boylan says he was approached by the South Island grower of his Incredible Edible plants, Elliotts Wholesale Nursery, and the garden designer Sandi MacRae Landscape Design to gift the garden to the community because of all the work that had gone into creating it.
“I thought gifting the garden was such a great idea,” Mr Boylan says. “I am so pleased the garden is going to be used and enjoyed by many children and their families at Cholmondeley.”
Christchurch designer of the garden Sandi MacRae says the Incredible Edibles exhibition garden has been designed as a family garden, a garden for children to enjoy and which encourages families to use their outdoor spaces to create a space for children to learn how to grow their own fruit.
Caroline Elliott of Bayliss and Elliotts Wholesale Nursery in Amberley says they were trying to find an appropriate home for the garden when Cholmondeley sprung to mind. “We wanted to gift the garden to an organisation which would get great value from the space and where it would be used in a way which reflected our original focus of it being a beautiful but productive family garden.”
The garden provides shelter, food, fun and a place for quiet contemplation or play in an urban setting.
“At Cholmondeley, the family support facility will be able to grow fruit to feed children staying at the house, they will be able to use it as a learning facility as part of their on-site school programme to teach children how to grow plants, and it will provide those at Cholmondeley with a quiet space for reflection.”
She says Cholmondeley has a big property in Governors Bay, however, the plans for the garden will need be redrawn to ensure it fits within the site and that is becomes a great asset for Chomondeley to provide food for many years.
Many contractors, including the garden’s builder Lindsay Robinson, have donated time to create the garden for the Ellerslie International Flower Show and will again donate their time to help relocate the garden to Cholmondeley.
“There is a real generosity of spirit from the people who have been involved with this garden to ensure it lives on beyond Ellerslie. A lot of hard work has gone into creating the garden and it is wonderful it has a future that will contrubute in such a positive way to the community. This is a great outcome for everyone,” Mr Boylan says.
Cholmondeley General Manager Shane Murdoch says an edible garden is something which will endure as a fantastic way to involve and educate the children and is meaningful for Cholmondeley in its 85th year.
“Cholmondeley is fortunate to be located in a beautiful spot and the garden will definitely add to this. We want to sincerely thank Andrew, Sandi, Caroline and Lindsay for providing this wonderful resource and hope they will pop by from time to time to share it with us in the years to come.”
For further information contact:
Ellerslie International Flower Show Communications Adviser
Jan McCarthy
03 941 6412 or 027 637 7912
