Remarkably, for such prominent international designers, this is the first time back at Chelsea Flower Show for Tommaso del Buono and Paul Gazerwitz, since their 2008 debut. Not surprisingly, we were keen to find out why their return had taken so long.
Six years is an age between show gardens for designers of your stature, why the big gap?
Tommaso: We were always keen to do another garden at Chelsea but we didn’t have time to actively court it. Then The Telegraph asked us to create its garden this year and we jumped at the opportunity.
Roughly calculating, I think The Telegraph has won 11 Gold medals since 1997, not to mention seven Best Show Garden awards, that’s quite a track record, are you feeling a bit of pressure to bring home a Gold again?
Tommaso: In a word, yes!
The Telegraph is one of the most consistent supporters of the Chelsea Flower Show, how do you think it benefits from being a show garden sponsor?
Paul: I think the paper attracts a gardening audience because the coverage is so comprehensive, it’s not just about practical horticulture and vegetables; there’s a lot about garden design in it too, which is excellent. In addition, I think it’s probably the go-to paper for everything Chelsea!
The paper tends to choose a different designer every year (there are exceptions) to create its Chelsea garden, why do you think that is?
Paul: I think it’s about spreading the opportunity around, and also it results in very different gardens every year. Saying that, The Telegraph gardens are always outstanding, so from that point of view there’s consistency, and we’re flattered to hope that we can continue the trend.
Did you get a brief from the client?
Tommaso: No, and it’s fantastic to be given carte blanche. Our last garden was for a commercial sponsor and while we were given a free hand in many respects, we did have to tell a specific story in the design. Maybe that’s how The Telegraph achieves so much variety in its gardens.
What are you looking forward to most about the Show?
Tommaso: We’ve been planning the garden for over a year now so seeing the garden built and planted is the most exciting thing.
Is there anything in particular about the garden that will be a real crowd-pleaser?
Tommaso: There’s a lot to see in the garden, but the enormous water wall at the far end of the garden is probably la pièce de résistance. It’s very big, very gushy and very loud! The inspiration was the water feature in Paley Park, New York – maybe not quite to that scale – but the sound it makes will have a wonderful buffering effect against the noise and commotion of the show.
