Naturally Playful - BBC Gardeners' World Show Garden 2011
Winner of the Gold Medal and Best in show
City of Wolverhampton College is set for another central feature at the BBC Gardeners' World Live Show 2011 at the NEC in June. The 'Naturally Playful' garden has been designed by Helen Wood and Darren Rudge, lecturers at the Cedars Horticultural Centre. It captures childhood experiences of playing with nature which instil a sense of wonder, stimulating creativity, imagination and symbolic play.
The garden is an alternative to the world of sterile climbing frames and purpose built toys and illustrates how nature has created its own playground. It is an outdoor play space for children, which encourages them to interact and investigate the natural world and provides opportunities for discovery.
Naturally Playful offers possibilities for children to encounter and explore a natural space where they can manipulate their environment, construct their own special places, experience some risk taking and feel mud, twigs, leaves etc.
A mature, gnarled oak tree, perfect for climbing, dominates the design, while a shelter made from branches leans against the trunk. Features include a tunnel constructed to look like the entrance to a badger set, and a sandy hollow reminiscent of a sand pit. A muddy puddle is perfect for splashing around in while mixed shrubbery bordering the plot is ideal for scrambling into and making dens.
Students from the college will be helping the pair work on the garden. Horticultural students will be assisting with the planting and construction, while engineering students are fabricating the tunnel and IT students are compiling a CD to hand out to visitors at the event.