Charity DVD tells winning garden’s story

By LOUISE THOMASON

A DVD following the story of the Shetland Croft House Garden, which won gold at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, is to be released with the proceeds going to Motor Neurone Disease (MND) associations.

The garden was the brainchild of Martin Anderson, founder member of the MNDA. The idea came to him while in Shetland on holiday, when he realised that there were similarities between Shetland’s seemingly fragile plants, sheltering where they could from the unforgiving weather, and MND sufferers being helped by the association.

Recognising an entry to the Chelsea Flower show could help to raise awareness of the cause, Mr Anderson decided to go ahead with the project and with the help of Shetland people the Shetland Croft House Garden was entered into the show and subsequently won a top prize.

The DVD follows the journey of the project, from the dilapidated croft house the stone was taken from, to showing how the materials were transported and the entry at the show.

There are interviews with those who helped on the project, such as Sue Hayward, the garden’s designer; Dr Ian Anderson from the Shetland Museum and Archives, who Mr Anderson went to for historical advice on Shetland’s plants; artist Ruth Fisher, who constructed the wooden fence; and stonemason Alan Smiles.

There is also information on how the plants were transported and cared for. To minimise the shock of moving from Shetland to London and to ensure they bloomed on time, they were cared for at Nottingham-Trent University and there are interviews on how this was achieved.

Of course there is also footage of the show itself and reactions from gardening celebrities Alan Titchmarsh and Kim Wilde.

The film ends on the project’s return to Shetland. Rather than wasting the plants and materials, the croft house garden has been rebuilt at North Roe, where you can visit it.

Also included on the DVD is a short film about motor neurone disease and clips from a charity walk and bike ride in North Roe which raised money for the charity.

The DVD is being sold for £15.99 in local shops with the proceeds going to the Motor Neurone Disease associations.

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