NO STRANGER to flower and garden shows, Christian Jenkins from Christian Jenkins Landscape Design has taken his renowned and innovative style to the New Zealand Flower and Garden Show (NZFGS) and walked away victorious.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row Mr Jenkins flew to New Zealand for the floral and horticultural spectacular; held over five days (November 28-December 2) at West Auckland\u2019s The Trust Arena and had nine days to construct an outdoor garden space.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was my first time doing an international garden show and we got a gold medal. I know the lady who runs the program, and New Zealand is only four hours away, so I went,\u201d Mr Jenkins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people that don\u2019t know about garden shows, you\u2019ve got to produce a garden (10m x 10m) or 15m x 15m if you\u2019re crazy enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s four criteria the judges look at, your design, plant life, how well it has been constructed and how unique and innovative the design itself is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Jenkins\u2019 entry from the 2017 show was used on this year\u2019s brochure while his 2018 entry \u2018Lost and Found\u2019 won a gold medal, an Excellence in Horticulture Award as well as an Excellence in Design Award.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe feedback I received from the judges was excellent, they said it was some of the best planting they\u2019ve ever seen at a flower show.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was as good as you would see at Hampton Court (The Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in the UK) which is fantastic feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said this year was easier having done a research trip in 2017 and another one in September to liaise with his sponsors, furniture and plant supplier.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was so daunting, I didn\u2019t know what I was up against or where to get everything from. This year I flew over again for the weekend and quickly caught up with everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe nursery grower who sponsored me had imported Australian grass and bottle trees (which I used in my entry) about eight years ago, so the general public had never seen those plants before.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I scored so highly on the horticultural plant selection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Jenkins flew over his fellow worker, Jan Juc local and \u201csuper foreman\u201d Trent Taylor who came over for six days to help build and construct the garden.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther contestants had 21 days as they were local, but we only had nine. Out of 26 entrants there were three gold medals awarded and we were one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year was quite special, it made me walk away, after winning those awards and the feedback from the judges and feel really proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done so many Melbourne flower shows, and I get a hard time, it\u2019s so political but in New Zealand they like that I am who I am.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey like what I am and what I do and my point of difference, the thing at the Melbourne shows is they don\u2019t like it too different whereas I\u2019m always trying to push the boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Jenkins said his focus is now firmly on getting accepted into the 2020 Singapore Garden Festival (SGF) and hopes his most recent awards help him achieve that.<\/p>\n
To see Mr Jenkins\u2019 online portfolio and entries to various garden shows see christianjenkins.com.au.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO STRANGER to flower and garden shows, Christian Jenkins from Christian Jenkins Landscape Design has taken his renowned and innovative style to the New Zealand Flower and Garden Show (NZFGS) and walked away victorious. For the second year in a row Mr Jenkins flew to New Zealand for the floral and horticultural spectacular; held over […]<\/p>\n