Vicky Harris, who completed a diploma in Garden Design at the college last year, has incorporated stylish water-saving features into a mini Lake District to encourage gardeners to minimise their water use and show that saving water doesn’t have to prevent you from having and maintaining a beautiful outdoor retreat. The garden will be sponsored by Veolia Water.

Her Cumbrian meadow has a fountain emerging from the base of a hummock, and paddlestones crossing a stream which leads the visitor to an old stone crofter’s hut.  The garden is enclosed by a dry stone wall which merges into the walls of the hut.  An aged stone well head creates a reservoir, which is filled using runoff from the cottage roof, transported by a rain chain.

Using mostly native plants, which are likely to be able to withstand drought, the garden has been designed to give the feel of beds running into each other and a feeling of wilderness.

The garden will be shown in the artisan section of the Chelsea Flower Show, which runs from 22-26 May 2012.

'The Fountain' by William Wordsworth

This week is National Apprenticeship Week, and five Capel Manor apprentices, aged between 18 and 24, are hoping to retain the college’s 2011 crown with their rooftop garden.

Their four by five and a half metre plot will feature willow hedges using saplings cultivated in the college gardens and hand-woven by the students themselves.

The garden will also feature plenty of daffodils, having been inspired by Wordsworth’s poem of the same name.  Slate will come from the poet’s homeland of the Lake District via Honister Slate Mine; the country’s only working slate mine, which also supplies Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

It was designed by Capel Manor horticulture student David Tweddle.

Sustainability is the theme of the Ideal Young Gardeners of the Year competition, which was co-launched by TV gardener David Domoney and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment last year and won by Capel Manor garden design students.

Senior Gardener Tom Wheatcroft said: “The idea was to bring a rural feel to an urban landscape using one of the most beautiful parts of the country as our inspiration.

“Last year’s entry was fantastic, but we hope to be even better – though very different.

“This competition will give the apprentices great practical experience and their work will be seen by thousands of people, so this is something to be really proud of.”

Apprentice Michael Voller, a former Chace Community School pupil, said: “It’s a bit nerve racking as nothing has been put together yet, we’ve only seen it on paper. I’m looking forward to it though, it’s a taste of the real world, and it’s good experience to put on my CV.”

Students will be given one week to build and plant their garden outside Earls Court ready for the Ideal Home Show opening day on March 16th.

David Davenport of Silky Fox Handsaws and RFS Education Officer Debbie Cotton, launch the RFS Silky Fox Handsaws Awards

All students take note: work hard and as well as getting a job or achieving success, you might be showered with prizes.

An outstanding Capel student is to be picked for a Royal Forestry Society (RFS) award later in the year. The RFS, which was founded in 1882 to promote the wise management of woodlands, has selected Capel Manor to help them launch the Silky Fox Handsaws Awards, with the prize a Silky Gomtaro 300mm pruning saw together with a year’s membership to the RFS.

The award will be announced for the arboriculture or woodland management student who displays ‘the most endeavour’ later in the year.

This is not the first time the college’s students has been chosen by a major land-based employer to act as its first ambassador.

Last year animal care student Dominique Williams was chosen by construction and equipment company JCB for the launch of a new award. The triple distinction student was given. £500 of workwear because of her hard work in college and dedication as a volunteer at Hackney City Farm.

RFS Education Officer Debbie Cotton said: “As an education charity promoting the wise management of trees and woods, the RFS is delighted to recognise the excellent work of colleges up and down the country, and to give recognition to students who have gone the extra mile.”

For Capel Manor College, Gavin Leonard, Deputy Head of the School of Arboriculture and Countryside said: “A large proportion of students go from college straight into the workplace in the industry for which they have trained. We have found that offering awards (such as the RFS Silky Fox Handsaws Awards) help to focus all of the students in pushing themselves towards excellence.”

The RFS London and Middlesex Division organises woodland visits and activities, and welcomes new members. For further information please contact Divisional Secretary Angus Morrison on 020 7361 3524 or email Angus.Morrison@rbkc.gov.uk or visit www.rfs.org.uk .

Malcolm Parkinson, 63, the founding marketing director of B&Q, became a governor at Capel Manor in 1984. He has chaired the governing body since 2007 and is a member of four committees, including the finance committee, to which he contributed expertise gained from expanding the home improvement store.

As well as holding chief executive and director posts at other retail chains, he is a keen gardening enthusiast, and is also a member of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners.

He said: “It has been a privilege to be involved with Capel Manor and now to be the Chair of Governors. The MBE was a big surprise and is the icing on the cake for me.

“The award recognises the Capel team, the dedication of the staff, the brilliance of the students, the uniqueness of the gardens at Enfield, the sponsorship, all the little extras which come from the staff’s commitment and the general ’can do’ attitude of everyone over the years”.

College Principal Steve Dowbiggin said: “He has certainly earned this award, having selflessly given his time and expertise. The college has grown from the original 48 students on one site to being five sites with nearly 3,000 students across London. He never saw the college as just a college – he always aspired for us to be more of a social and community enterprise generating synery and regeneration wherever we are.”

Mr Parkinson had been instrumental in helping to minimise the college’s dependence on government funding, he added.

The 16 to 20-year-olds met once a week in the student ‘chat room’, set up by tutor Marlene Taylor to give students the chance to meet in a supportive environment.

She realised many of them were keen painters, writers and photographers and decided to organise an exhibition of their work.

Offerings included fantasy-inspired drawings by 16-year-old Martina Svobodova. The ex-Broomfield School pupil, who is studying Animal Care, has been drawing since she was three years old but this is the first time her work has been shown.

Shane Finch,17, from Enfield, was thrilled with the reaction to his poem ‘Remembrance’.

He said: “It was fantastic to receive really positive comments and feedback about something I have done.”

Another poet, 19-year-old Srdjan Srdjenovic, had not written a poem before and was delighted to be selected.

Marlene Taylor said “The idea came to me when I met with these students and realised so many of them were talented but no one knew about it. The exhibition has given so many of them even more confidence in themselves and their abilites.”

The advanced level floristry students transformed the Bullsmoor Lane college corridors into a wintery wonderland using everything from moss and spray paint to concrete, builders’ hats, scaffolding and tree stumps.

Head of floristry Gill McGregor, said: “Each year as part of the Level 3 Floristry Diploma students have to design an eye-catching display containing a three dimensional figure. Year on year the standard of the work shows how innovative the students can be – I’m so proud of them. The majority of the materials used are common materials such moss, chicken wire and aluminium rods.”

Kay Bedford, 55, Yolanda Ashall, 47 and Jane Kew, 47, built a building site featuring three pig workmen and a wolf scoffing sandwiches, which was inspired by a picture from children’s books.
Ms Bedford said: “We wanted to do something happy to cheer everyone up in these times of economic misery. It would have been nice to give them builders bums and string vests but we couldn’t find vests big enough.”

Another group used a Stubbs painting of Whistlejacket, which hangs in the National Gallery as the model for their version of the mythological winged horse, Pegasus. Using a chickenwire frame weighted at the back to allow the horse to appear as if it was rearing up, the students set the horse in a silvery forest of eucalyptus, ivy, pine cones and cineraria, with a pampas grass mane and white ostrich feathers for wings.

Other students used tropical plants such as palms, monstera, phormium, fatsia, to represent the Amazon rainforest, with the centrepiece of a moody gorilla surrounded by hungry pythons. More festive offerings included penguins and seals on an iceberg, sparked by Attenborough’s TV series, Frozen Planet, ice skating bears and a reindeer pulling a sleigh.

A committee of eight Team Capel members devised a packed programme of activities, even rolling up their sleeves to bake a selection of fairy cakes and mince pies which they sold while wearing spot-themed fancy dress.

Employer Services’ Jim O’Shea beat off fierce competition to get the closest to guessing the number of sweets in the jar – his estimate of 264 being closest to the total of 259.

The silent disco got into full swing at lunchtime, while the tug-of-war brought the fundraising total to £330.98, which will be matched by Barclays Bank.

Many former Capel students have become achieved SGD accreditation – meeting their exacting professional standards.
But a fellow of the society must give a “long-standing contribution in raising the standards of the profession as a whole”. Denise is the first garden designer to be promoted to a fellow for several years.

Her work has included co-editing of the society’s newsletter, Vitis, and chairing the Adjudications and Forum committees, implementing several new systems successfully since she took up the post in 2008.
The judges said: “Denise has unstintingly offered her support and guidance to all candidates, nurturing, encouraging and through her analytical skills has inspired members to advance. For her work for the society we appoint her fellow.”
Denise has 15 years’ experience in the landscape and garden design profession after founding her company, Garden Arts, in 1997.

She has designed several award-winning gardens and has been honoured at the London Design Awards, while her designs feature in the Garden Style Guides “Garden Makeovers”. As well as lecturing in garden design at Capel Manor College, she is a gardening writer.

Crowds of students looked on as the college’s saddlery department made a general purpose pony saddle, worth £800, over the course of the competition.

Capel Manor’s head of saddlery, master saddler Line Hansen, was joined by her deputy Christer Dahlberg to put the saddle together on alternate days.

Cordwainers’ at Capel Manor – as the saddlery department is officially known – is just one of only a handful in the world offering full time saddlery courses, and has made bridles for Princess Anne and the Queen.

Ms Hansen said: “This saddle would take an experienced saddler 25-35 hours to make so it was a full-on job to make sure it got done. WorldSkills was a good opportunity to promote traditional English crafts to the next generation as well as letting youngsters know about the educational opportunities out there using skills. It seemed to spark the children’s imagination as they asked us how they could get involved.”

A BBC crew also filmed Line putting the finishing touches to the saddle. The footage may appear in a short film they are making about apprenticeships, due to appear on the BBC website in November.

As well as the saddlery stand, which was manned by Capel Manor under the umbrella of the Worshipful Companies of Saddlers, Loriners and Cordwainers, Capel Manor College also had a joint stand with sector skills council LANTRA.

Staff dressed as beekeepers, tree surgeons and gardeners and gave away hundreds of prospectuses and a score of press packs as well as promoting the gardens to teachers interested in school visits.

WorldSkills is an annual event held in cities around the world, showcasing the best young craftspeople across a huge range of subjects – from landscaping and cooking to cabinet making and aeronautical engineering.

Britain came 5th overall with 4 gold medals, 2 silver medals, 6 bronze medals and 12 medallions for excellence.

Images by Harris Digital

Keiko Ohiro and Ceri Garmonsway

The Gunnersbury Park floristry students spent the day with traders at the largest flower market in Europe, with Level 3 students taking part in a competition to make a wall hanging for a modern hairdressers’ with the theme of Winter Wonderland.
Competitors Keiko Ohiro and Ceri Garmonsway had three hours to take down a brief, shop for ingredients and make it up using seasonal blooms.
Despite competing against teams of four or five, they managed to pull off a 98 per cent score in one section of the competition and came halfway in the overall rankings – no mean feat as 20 other colleges took part.
Other groups of students toured the market, finding out where their flowers, foliage and plants come from, and about costs and how the produce varies with the seasons.
Their tutor, Michelle Moore said: “I was very proud of Keiko and Ceri for their hard work and perseverance, and it was a great chance for all my students to get a sense of the logistics of a wholesale market.”