Best in Show award for IQ Quarry Garden
Institute’s centenary quarry garden project wins hat trick of awards including Best in Show at RHS Chatsworth
MEMBERS of the Institute of Quarrying (IQ) are celebrating a hat trick of successes for the IQ Quarry Garden at the first ever RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, having won ‘Best in Show’, a coveted Gold Medal and ‘Best Construction’ from esteemed Royal Horticultural Society judges.
The Quarry Garden, designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes, celebrates the essential role of quarrying and mineral extraction in modern life, and the compelling Quarry Garden narrative captured the RHS judges’ imagination.
The garden is divided into three zones; a floriferous and naturalistic area featuring slate monoliths, wild flowers and plants often associated with former extraction sites, moving through to an open, modernist sunken concrete pool and finally a structured paved area bordered by a sculptural artwork.
Paul Hervey-Brookes explained: ‘The garden design is an expression of how nature and extraction sit comfortably alongside each other. It features mass-produced products manufactured from extracted materials, natural slate, concrete and steel, as well as hard landscaping materials made from recycled and reclaimed materials.
‘I’m very proud of what we have achieved and I’m delighted that this has been recognized by the RHS.’
Miles Watkins, president of the Institute of Quarrying, said: ‘This is a wonderful way to mark one hundred years of IQ. Taking on a show garden is a major undertaking and to receive ‘Best in Show’ and a Gold Medal is recognition of all the hard work and endeavour that has gone into making it a reality.
‘That includes the superb project management undertaken by the team at IQ and the dedication of our garden designer and his build team, as well as the support that the project has received from across the sector.’
Gareth Wilson of GK Wilson Landscape Services, commented: ‘The Quarry Garden is one of the largest RHS show gardens that has ever been built. It was a major undertaking but one which we’ve all enjoyed hugely.
‘We’ve manhandled huge slate monoliths, poured hundreds of cubic metres of cement and worked every hour possible – but it’s all worth it when you win ‘Best Construction’. I’m immensely proud of my team and want to say a personal ‘thanks’ to Paul, as it’s his professional eye that has turned this garden into an award-winning garden.’
The project has been an inclusive process throughout. Students from Nottingham Trent University’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Science were influential in the initial design concepts of the garden and join young leaders from Aggregate Industries, CEMEX, Hanson and Tarmac as garden ambassadors during the week of RHS Chatsworth.
At 480 square metres, the Quarry Garden is one of the largest RHS show gardens ever. The IQ Quarry Garden is supported by Tarmac, CEMEX UK, Hanson UK, Aggregate Industries, Birchover Stone Ltd, Bradstone, Delabole Slate Company and the University of Derby. For more information visit: www.quarrygarden.org or www.quarrying.org
