One of the most likely things to happen when a Dutchman works with an Englishman is an argument. However, when you put the foremost Dutch garden designer to work with the foremost English garden designer the result is something of outstanding beauty, something sublime, something that reaches out at your senses and tickles them all simultaneously. The gardens at Trentham in Staffordshire must rate as some of the most magnificent and deserve their own gold medals; after all the designers who have helped in their development are gold medal winners themselves.
Piet Oudolf, from the Netherlands, has developed a very natural style of planting where colours and textures are combined to give a unique depth to a garden. He has worked on many prestigious gardens including those at Trentham, Wisley, Scampston, Pensthorpe (all UK), Battery Park (New York) and others in Sweden, Canada, Germany and of course his own garden in the Netherlands. He has won Gold Medal and Best in Show awards at Chelsea in 2000 and the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal. Tom Stuart-Smith has won six gold medals at the RHS Chelsea flower show and three Best in Show awards. His style, more than any other, describes the current state of English garden design with features drawn from the UK's rich heritage and traditional design to which he has added his own touches - lots of green, swathes of plants and a sense of magic.
