NURSERY
The positive power of plants
Experts are to use state-of-the art facial recognition technology monitoring eye contact, physical gestures and smiles or frowns to reveal that some plants make us happier than others. The top 100 plants nominated by the public will be voted on via social media to produce a top 20 list in time for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015. TV gardener David Domoney will create a Chelsea science and educational exhibit complete with special cameras to monitor visitor reactions to individual plants. With many of Chelsea’s 150,000 visitors having enjoyed the exhibit by the end of the festival, the experiment will reveal which of the plants creates the greatest sense of personal wellbeing and happiness. Launching the ‘Positive Power of Plants’ project, David Domoney
said: “It’s amazing how much sense of well-being and happiness the sight of a plant can bring. “We are hoping to identify the best-loved plant, be it the sight of red roses on Valentine’s, a field of sunflowers or even the magic of a Christmas tree. Plants lift our hearts just by the sight of them. “We think there will be real differences between age groups and gender. It’s a fascinating experiment and a real talking point. “To get started, we are involving as many people as possible with them telling us their three favourite ‘happy plants’ – those that really make them smile – so we can start to build up the list of the nation’s top 100. To cast your vote visit: www.daviddomoney.com/ happy-plant-top-100
Field grown material in demand Green Mile Trees reports late orders for their range of field grown material. Managing director Chris Scott said: “With the weather improving, a sense of urgency is apparent with later orders for field grown plants. Green Mile Trees is expecting to sell considerable 62
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amounts of field grown laurels and pines in the coming weeks. “We still have excellent quality 2m laurels and fantastic rootballed pines up to 3m. These are staple items for a nursery best known for its top quality field grown trees,” Chris said.
Agrumi looks back at its 2014 successes and forward to an exceptional year in 2015 Fast expanding UK topiary and specimen plant specialists Agrumi was founded in 2006 as a familyrun wholesale ornamental tree, shrub and plant supplier. Highlights among its 2014 commissions included a project to create the words ‘BBC Entertainment’ in 1.2m topiary letters for a promotional event abroad, creation of a life-size giraffe in box privet for ITV’s hugely successful ‘Love Your Garden’ series with Alan Titchmarsh and a project to celebrate the relaunch of Britsh company Radley’s flagship store in Covent Garden. Agrumi also made substantial additions to its topiary installations at the Paultons family theme park in Hampshire. Paultons already had a vast range of Agrumi’s topiary designs to compliment their rides and gardens. Last year they added a series of life-sized, circus themed characters to accompany the park’s magnificent new double-decker Victorian carousel.
The nursery’s existing giant topiary stiletto shoe for Rain Communications at St Christopher’s Place in London’s West End will receive a facelift with a covering of LED lights. Agrumi wants to keep pushing the limits of what it does and recently produced a set of human-size figures based on the original drawings for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Carroll’s eccentric, whimsical characters as realised by artist John Tenniel, are well suited to topiary. Alice Liddell, Carroll’s inspiration, lived and is buried near the Agrumi nursery, making the project particularly appealing. Agrumi will be displaying their topiary Alice characters in RHS venues and at other shows around the country later this year. Agrumi anticipates that 2015 will be an exceptional year, building on a growing reputation and expanding into previously unexplored design territory. www.agrumi.co.uk
The company had had a busy winter and expected trade to stay buoyant over the coming months, he explained. “We are now busy lifting for orders and planting stock for next season. Potting specimen plants for the container unit will certainly keep us busy!” www.greenmiletrees.co.uk www.prolandscapermagazine.com
19/03/2015 14:11