Great garden exhibition at Agri Mega Week 2011

The latest addition to Agri Mega Week 2011 is Agri Mega Gardens: An extensive horticultural smorgasbord of the latest trends and goodies in the Gardening World. Agri Mega Week 2011 takes place at Mega Park in Bredasdorp from Wednesday 14 – Friday 16 September 2011.

"I have great expectations for this new garden show," says Helen Manson-Kullin, organiser of the Garden Exhibtion. "Having been lucky enough to be included in the 2004 SA Chelsea team, and thus being influenced by it, my personal vision for this show knows no limits. The Cape is sorely lacking in shows of this calibre, and for a change it is on our side of the mountain!" There will be something for every gardener, from small town gardens to the old majestic farm gardens, as well as the professional horticulturist.

The show gardens are landscaped to perfection, for you to draw inspiration from. Carefully planned and suited to our diverse region, the show gardens will bring you both exotic and indigenous planting schemes. Landscapers from across the region will build up the gardens from scratch starting about 10 days before the opening, and will take them all down again after the show. Like the famous Chelsea Flower Show in England and all garden shows, it all comes together beautifully on the day.

This year's gardens will include a very exciting garden by the experienced team from the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens entitled, 'Harold Porter Celebrates Forests,' Cobus Smit from iGadi will bring his lovely, "Eat Your Garden,' and Sarah Foyle from Foyles Herbs, has a gorgeous Herb Garden for us to enjoy. Well-known local landscaper, Werner Jacobs from Greenline Landscaping in Stanford will amaze us all with his incredible stone work and water wise concepts, while Dylan from Elements will bring all the elements together in his 'Elemental Garden." Legacy Landscapes, in conjunction with Overberg Agri, are planning something really special in their Garden entitled, 'Where Two Oceans Meet,' a garden influenced by ocean currents and the seafaring plant hunters of a previous age...

All these Landscapers are experienced in their respective fields, and have partaken in many shows, so one can expect a highly competitive collection of show gardens with very diverse techniques. Garden goodies will range from tools and specialty pots, to indigenous and highly sort after exotic plants, garden sculpture and furniture, the latest in mechanical gadgets and irrigation, and various eco inspired products.

Also for your enjoyment and information, various talks and illustrated lectures will be held. The highlight of which will be David Davidson which takes place at 11:00 on September 15th. Most of you will know of David as the South African Garden Hero! For 18 years David has led the SA team to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, promoting South Africa as a prime ecotourism destination. "David has kindly agreed to mentor me in this first year of Agri Mega Gardens. I am sure that with his extensive knowledge and experience at our disposal, we will be able to achieve great things in this first year. With a bit of luck and funding we may even be able to bring the SA Chelsea display to our own Bredasdorp in 2012!" says Helen Manson-Kullin.

We hope that this new event on the horticultural calendar will become a regular fixture, assuring gardeners new and exciting ideas and plants. We look forward to chatting with you and answering your garden questions at this year's Agri Mega Gardens.

Should you require more information please feel free to contact Helen Manson-Kullin on 082 632 2391.