With the Chelsea Flower Show having its first judging day tomorrow (Sunday), all the show gardens have to be finished today. Yesterday Hwang Jihae’s team was boosted by some additional volunteers to help finish off the last details.
The professionals did some final planting, filling in one or two gaps under the demanding and perfectionist eye of Ms Hwang.
And the less skilled… they were roped in to creating the memorial bench, fixing military ID tags to a sheet of steel with a honeycomb of holes. First a small chain had to be threaded through the dog tag, then poked through the hole in the metal sheet, and finally fixed in place with a plastic tag.
Visitors will be invited to sit on the bench and have a quiet moment of reflection. Ms Hwang’s plan is to set the bench at a slight angle, hoping the dog tags will catch the breeze and make a calming sound.
The garden looks like it has been there for ever, which is a real achievement. And one passer-by said: “It’s the best garden by a country mile”.
Let’s hope the judges agree.
Links:
- LKL’s complete coverage of Hwang Jihae’s gardens at Chelsea 2012 and 2011
- Quiet Time: DMZ Forbidden Garden on Facebook. Please donate using the Paypal sign.