Controversial ‘Pub Beer Garden’ Wins Chelsea Flower Show

Garden News: Judges have been accused of ‘pandering to populist opinion’ after choosing a patio with some bins and broken benches for the top prize at the 2014 Chelsea Flower Show.

“The winning garden is a unique, modern statement on the contemporary British urban outdoor space,” said one judge.

“The bold architectural statements of the burnt, toppled over wheelie bins and smashed benches really bring the garden together, helping create a dialogue between the earth and the sky.”

“For me it was all about the details,” said the garden’s designer Marcus Toad. “Apart from the bins and broken seating, there is smaller planting to catch the eye – like the metal bucket full of cigarette butts, plant pots with nothing alive in them and the perennial pizza box.”

‘Pub Beer Garden’ was also lauded by other Royal Horticultural Society members as ‘raw in its honesty’ as well as being ‘the perfect place for a crafty fag’.