Chelsea Flower Show – Garden #10

The Daily Telegraph Garden – Ulf Njordfell (2009)

Ulf Nordfjell is a botanist, ceramicist and landscape designer. His work is characterised by an ability to set contemporary buildings in a garden setting and a desire to choose plants that have their genetic origins in the landscape beyond.

Although the way Ulf combines his plants may echo the English tradition, this garden is essentially Swedish in design. The hard landscaping uses a grey Swedish granite, the building is in pine and hardened glass and the plant palate is of blues, whites and grey.

Key plants are Eremurus ‘Joanna’, Selinum wallichianum, Crambe maritima, Viola cornuta alba and ‘Belmont Blue’, Iris chrysographes `Black form´ and ` Tropic Night´. But the star plant of his garden way well turn out to be Sesleria nitida. A bit like Elijah Blue Fescue on steroids – this moor grass is steelier, neater and has pert, fluffy seedheads that arrive in early spring.

Njordfell’s return to Chelsea this year is much anticipated by the garden design fraternity.

Author: Mike the Gardener

Freelance gardening writer, consultant and designer. Mike Palmer is a passionate and professional plantsman, offering services in garden writing, consultancy and garden design. Mike is also available for garden and plant related talks and presentations. Mike has been a professional horticulturalist for over fifteen years. View all posts by Mike the Gardener