After winning silver at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2015, Selling Houses Australia’s landscape gardener Charlie Albone heads back to the most famous flower and garden show in the world.
He is also the only Australian designer to compete at Chelsea two years in a row and this year Charlie is determined to push his garden design to the next level.
Last year’s design was personal, inspired by family and Charlie’s own life back in Sydney. This year’s garden is totally different – it’s architectural, structured and design heavy. It demands perfect precision and that comes with high risk. A dramatic floating pavilion and water feature both work in theory but have never been truly tested. Only during the build will Charlie discover if they actually work and problems cause the build to fall days behind.
Camaraderie and mateship are important in the build. Charlie is working with his team from last year, and they add a distinct Aussie larrikin touch to formal Chelsea as they battle to make the tight deadline.
“It was always a dream of mine to enter Chelsea Flower Show, but to be the first Australian designer to take on the challenge two years in a row has been amazing…and exhausting! It takes months to prepare so as soon as we were packing up from 2015, we were already starting plans for this year. It was a massive team effort and one I couldn’t have done with the support of my family and team of hard working mates,” says Charlie of the experience.
The show features some of the most famous Chelsea gold medal winners and show judges, who give tips and insights into what goes into creating a perfect Chelsea garden – where one imperfection – such as one missing leaf – can mean the difference between winning gold and silver. We also visit the home gardens of these multiple gold medal winning exhibitors.
Charlie’s Chelsea Garden 2016 is produced by Got It Made exclusively for Foxtel’s The LifeStyle Channel and airs Tuesday, September 27 at 8:30pm.
