362: Stuart Charles Towner, Chelsea Flower Show 2018

Stuart Charles Towner is a freelance multi-award winning garden designer and RHS consultant. This 2018 he will design his first garden on Main Avenue, Chelsea Flower Show 2018 - his first time to design at the prestigeous RHS event. On this episode of The Sodshow Garden Podcast Stuart and Peter Donegan chat everything from just how did you get here, nerves, never seeing a garden build being taken apart to Dolly Parton, spare time and escapism from a world of working on your lonesome for a love of horticulture. We also talk his upcoming garden and why one should only expect a gold. As a by the way, you can subscribe to The Sodshow Garden Podcast in spotify/ iTunes or any good podcast store – and get it direct to your phone or desktop computer. And, if you have a mo, a rate / review in iTunes would be just fan-tastic. Thanks for listening Xx  - www.sodshow.com  Twitter: @sodshow facebook: The Sodshow instagram: sodshow VTB Capital Garden - Spirit of Cornwall at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2018 Following Stuart & Beth’s joint success with their last show garden they have since collaborated on several commercial projects. Spirit of Cornwall was jointly co-designed by them and the rest of the team with Stuart leading the project through to its inception. One of the Show Gardens to be unveiled at the Chelsea Flower Show in May this year will be The VTB Capital Garden – ‘Spirit of Cornwall’ – a unique creative collaboration not usually seen in the industry, bringing together garden designers, architects, a composer, musicians and a sculptor; all commissioned by VTB Capital, a leading international bank. Garden design is by multi award-winning garden designers Stuart Charles Towner & Bethany Williams, winners of Gold & Best in Show RHS Hampton 2015, in collaboration with a multi-award winning creative team of architects Studio Evans Lane, Constella OperaBallet & sculptor Sheila Vollmer. Sited on Chelsea’s Main Avenue ‘Spirit of Cornwall’ is a multi-sensory experience: inspired by the work of renowned British sculptor Barbara Hepworth; and music composed by Leo Geyer, Artistic Director Constella OperaBallet, specially commissioned by the Hepworth Estate and Tate St Ives to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hepworth’s garden. Conceived as a garden for a sculptor and a composer, ‘Spirit of Cornwall’ is contemporary in style, the garden features a palette of subtropical and temperate plants, illustrating the unique microclimates found throughout Cornwall. Concrete and steel form the only hard landscaping elements in the garden. The metalwork that runs throughout the garden is a physical manifestation of the music, taken from the sound wave pattern, with its peak expressed by the garden pavilion, a space for composing and performing designed by awardwinning architectural practice, Studio Evans Lane. Water features echo the sea views from Hepworth’s garden. The continuous circulation of water reinforces the musical motif. Sculptures by International sculptor Sheila Vollmer nestle amongst the planting, drawing inspiration from the rhythms of the garden design, the music and her own practice style; sources such as Russian Constructivism. VTB Capital is proud to have commissioned the ‘Spirit of Cornwall’ garden and support its talented designers and artists at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Established in the City of London for almost 100 years, VTB Capital helps its investment banking and corporate clients grow their businesses and retail customers grow their savings. VTB Capital has carved out a reputation as a reliable business partner for clients from around the world. According to the league tables published by Dealogic, Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters, VTB Capital has consistently been one of the top three Investment Banks in the CEE since 2009. FB - Stuart Charles Towner Twitter - @StuartTowner Website - www.stuartcharlestowner.co.uk