2nd Gold for Putney firm at Chelsea

Patio, Pots & Pergolas part of the winning team

Putney landscaper Charles Held and his Patios, Pots and Pergolas team were celebrating on Tuesday as they struck gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The 'Think' Garden - designed by the Johnson Bourne Partnership - was judged 'Best Chic Garden'. Amazingly, it was a second success for Held - who along with wife Susan and two of his four sons - had won another prestigious Gold medal. This was capped when the garden was named 'Best Chic Garden' by judges, replicating their double-success with 'Kelly's Creek' in 2002.

Excited by an original and eye-popping project and by the enthusiasm of first-time designers Emmeline Johnson and Chris Bourne - who met whilst studying at Writtle College - Held was determined to see the project through despite the lack of a major sponsor. He said: "It's simply unbelievable for a small family firm like ours to win Gold again. It's a great reward for the design team and for all my men who worked so tirelessly "

The Think Garden blends heritage materials such as reclaimed Welsh slate and aged zinc with contrasting modern material such as Perspex. The cool, calming backdrop of the slate clad walls is enhanced by the sound of water trickling over a sheet of vibrant purple Perspex at the rear of the garden. A serpentine stainless steel bench is set on a central dais surrounded by a moat of crushed purple Perspex.

The idea was to create a low-maintenance, drought-resistant garden, taking into account our increasingly warm climate and the effects of global warming. Inspired while on holiday in Corsica by cacti and other succulents that survive baking summers high in the mountains, this garden is a new take on carpet bedding - a carpet of cacti and succulents. The massed forms of spiky Echinocactus, Euphorbia and cultivars of Sempervivum give a colour palette of foliage from glaucous green through to violet, red and purple.

May 28, 2004