Gold and Best Of Show Awards at Gardening World Cup 2013

John Tan and Raymond Toh of Esmond Landscape and Horticultural Pte Ltd brought victory home by garnering a Gold Award and the prestigious Best Of Show Award in an international garden design competition in Japan. They represented Singapore in the recently held Gardening World Cup 2013 at Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan. The competition themed “Gardens for Peace” also featured other garden and landscape designers from New Zealand, UK, USA, South Korea, France and Japan.

Their entry entitled “Timeless Tropical : Peace With Nature”, which took the highest award is a tropical themed garden that uses different elements of nature. The garden also showcased the use of recycled materials – something helpful in restoring and healing of our planet according to Mr. John Tan. Another eye-catching part is the wire sculpture of a girl holding a bird by the renowned Singaporean Sculptor, Mr. Victor Tan. It perfectly fits to the whole concept of the garden which depicts the serene and peaceful life in nature.

A large flower-like wooden pavilion is one of it’s main feature. It has large petals shading the seating area – where you will be amazed by the view and the smell of white dendrobium orchids. The rest of the garden includes mainly tropical plants – some you can find in easily in Singapore but not in Japan.

Mr. Tan and Mr. Toh designed a spectacular lighting for the garden. At night it turns into a mystical piece. The water feature becomes very prominent as the color of the water changes because of the led lights installed underneath. Upward lights highlighted the big spout shooting upward at the centre, as well as the sculptures and the rusted metal columns. Shadows casting on the large petals of the pavilion, and the bird nest with a bulb inside it are very interesting pieces at night. The duo did a thorough design even to the smallest details of the garden – something that turned the whole concept into a spectacular piece.

Gardening World Cup 2013 Exhibition was held from the 12th to 20th of October 2013 at Huis Ten Bosch, Nagasaki, Japan.