WITH only one day to go until the entrants of the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show are judged and winners announced, Selling Houses Australia’s Charlie Albone is eagerly awaiting the final verdict.
Being the only Australian entrant and having spent two weeks in the UK tirelessly working on his garden along with a team of 10 landscapers and builders, Albone is looking forward to the big finish as well as the Queen’s visit.
“[I’m] a mixture of nerves and happiness,†Albone said.
He said despite the wrong type of pavement being delivered, the building and planting process has gone smoothly with the team spending 11 hours a day hard at work.
“Nothing’s really gone out of plan which was always a bit of a worry, you can’t just pop down to the hardware store. We did a lot of planning and it’s all gone to plan.â€
Albone’s garden was designed with his late father firmly planted in his mind.
“I designed the garden with the idea that if I was ever to meet him and tell him about my life as a man — he only knew me as a boy — I wanted to have a place to meet him,†he told The Daily Telegraph in January.
The garden is divided into three sections, the first of which celebrates life featuring a wide, 2m path that Albone would be able to walk down with his father and two children.
The second section has a water feature with a water level that drops out within three seconds, emulating the feeling one gets when they lose a loved one.
The third section is a sunken area with a fire pit and stone pillars.
The garden features some Australian touches with sandstone sourced from the Capricorn Sandstone Quarries and shipped to the UK.
Albone said the gardens had caused a bit of a stir among competitors and onlookers alike.
“With some of the plants we’re using traditional English plants combined with plants from Sydney, Australia and people didn’t know you could grow those two together,†he said.
There are also some Australian natives in the form of Acacia ‘Limelight’, Dicksonia tree ferns, native gingers, native violets, Poa grass and Scleranthus.
“It’s a dream come true really, the construction team have pulled together what’s been in my mind for the last 18 months. It’s a great feeling,†Albone said.
Albone’s garden will be judged against his own brief. He will also be up for the Best in Show category with the results to be announced tomorrow.
Albone is husband to interior designer Juliet Love and father of sons Leo, 2, and Hartford, 6 months and runs his own landscape design company, Inspired Exteriors.