Best of British Bonsai gets Gold at Gardeners World Live
‘Best of British Bonsai’
Gardeners’ World Live at The National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
With a change of venue, ‘Best of British Bonsai 2013’ found itself located at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham as part of this years ‘Gardeners World Live’, one of the stars of the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual calendar.
With a completely different format, dictated by the nature of the venue, a 100 foot by 35 foot display area was built up to accommodate 54 superb bonsai, selected by Steve Tolley, ranging from shohin displays through to large trees. The exhibit, being displayed in an R.H.S. show, was judged by the RHS and awarded a Gold Medal. It is shortlisted as one of the Best Amateur Exhibits for judgement later in the year.
The standard of bonsai on display was extremely high, and my thanks go to all those who submitted trees for display. The judging for the best trees was done by Dan Barton who admitted having great difficulty in arriving at a decision. Fifteen trees and compositions received Awards of Merit and from those, the following received the top awards, sponsored by Steve Tolley.
Best shohin: Ian Warhurst for his Chinese elm.
Best Chuhin: Marcus Watts for his broom Zelkova.
Best large tree: Des Lloyd for his Juniper chinensis.
The Best of Show award went to Marcus Watts with his broom Zelkova.
Congratulations to all concerned.
Listing of all trees with Awards of Merit and Major Awards
Tree No. |
Name of Exhibitor |
Species |
Award |
03 |
Bryan Stone |
Larch on rock |
|
06 |
Chrissie Leigh-Walker |
Privet |
|
09 |
Chrissie Leigh-Walker |
Acer palmatum |
|
10 |
Chrissie Leigh-Walker |
Red pine |
|
13 |
Dave Jackson |
White pine |
|
14 |
Des Lloyd |
Chinese juniper |
Best Large Tree |
15 |
Des Lloyd |
Hemlock |
|
19 |
Ian Warhurst |
Privet |
|
23 |
Mark Bentley |
Itoigawa juniper |
|
24 |
Martin Shepherd |
Scots pine |
|
33 |
Simon Temblett |
Chamaecyparis |
|
37 |
Marcus Watts |
Zelkova |
Best Chuhin and Best in Show |
40 |
M & K Hughes |
Larch |
|
43 |
Ian Warhurst |
Chinese elm |
Best Shohin |
49 |
Reg Bolton |
Japanese maple |
|
|