The Andrew Ewing water features have now all been installed and he's just tweaking the water flow and the finish for the stone blocks. The sculpture by Nigel Hall is in place and is fantastic! The corten steel finish works so well with the colour of the Travertine, in the sunlight it casts a precise shadow on the wall and looks great.
We've already started the perennial planting. It's been difficult to decide which plants should make the final selection, as Crocus have provided such amazing plants to choose from. I've been experimenting with Catherine and Jane from my team, as well as Speronella, Vicky and Megan who have worked on Chelsea gardens in the past and have come to help me.
It's my intention to finish the planting by the end of today, so we've got the last few days to make any changes and to allow the plants to settle before judging on Sunday/Monday.
The travertine paving has all been laid and it's beautiful. During the design stage, I changed the paving layout quite a bit because I was trying to achieve a composed but more unusual arrangement - so I'm very pleased that all that consideration has paid off. Catherine has been applying the colour enhancer to the stone, and Jane has been on her hands and knees pushing sand into the joints between the sets!
We are racing to the finish line!