Wellington designer named Student Designer of the Year

6 MARCH 2012

Wellington designer named Student Designer of the Year

Wellington designer Rachael Matthews has been named Ellerslie International Flower Show Student Designer of the Year sponsored by Solid Energy.

Rachael, a student at Weltec and owner of Hedge Garden Design and Nursery, won the title with her exhibit, Gone to Seed. The contemporary design of a modern yet sustainable garden showcases plants which have gone to seed.

Rachael said the inspiration for the garden came from her mother’s own veggie patch which tended to run wild at this time of the year. She began growing the vegetables for the garden in November, saying it was “nerve-wrecking with the weather, and then working out how to transport my larrikin lettuces from Wellington to Christchurch without the beets behaving badly, a broccoli rebellion or a full-scale mustard mutiny”.

Veggies aside, the garden is packed with innovative ideas for home gardeners, like space saving layouts for growing fruit on walls, an underground composting system that doubles as a boardwalk between the beds and DIY bean frames made form sculptural flax flowers, alliums, bull rushes and toetoes.

Lead Judge of the Emerging Design Category Renee Davies from Auckland said Rachael’s garden stood out for its innovative design.

“Within a small space, she had put a compost bin below the boardwalk and had climbing frames on the courtyard made from recycled materials; everything was done in such a way that was simplistic and had great clarity.”

She praised Rachael’s use of materials and how everything growing in the garden had gone to seed, reflecting the mature stage of the clients whose dream was to live “the good life”.

“The construction was outstanding, the detail impeccable and there was a real beauty in the way the theme manifests in the plant quality.”

“The quirky touch was in the way she had used toetoe, flax, and alliums to stake her plants.”

Renee says when young designers are given a brief to design a garden; the difficulty is in ensuring they don’t overdo it. “What was clear with Rachael’s design is that she didn’t put in what wasn’t needed and showed real clarity with what she did put in; that is what made it stand out.”

Emerging Designs/Student Designer of the Year 2012 Competition Results:

Rachael Matthews (Weltec) Gold & Student Designer of the Year

Katrina Pinnington (Design & Arts College) Silver Distinction

Sheldon McNamara (Weltec) Silver
Ben Saywell, Darryl Johnston, Silver
Kate McDougall, Lachlan Munro,
Lauren Lee and Lucy Magill (CPIT)

Kyle Lewis & Richard Lorgelly (CPIT) Bronze
Danilyn Green (Design & Arts College) Bronze

Fleur Mar (Weltec) Merit

o Ellerslie International Flower Show, North Hagley Park, 7 to 11 March 2012. For more information: www.ellerslieflowershow.co.nz .

ENDS

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