Kiwi Landscape Designer To Compete At Prestigious Asian Garden Festival

As a young teenager growing up in Taranaki, Riverhead resident Jules Moore won the Rose Bowl Cup for Top Horticultural Apprentice.

Since then, her career has grown, branched out, and blossomed – and this August she’ll be representing New Zealand at the prestigious Singapore Garden Festival, the only New Zealander invited to participate.

With a flourishing career spanning nearly four decades, Jules, owner of Whenuapai’s Touch of the Tropics Garden Centre, is one of new Zealand’s top landscape designers and she’s thrilled to have been selected to compete in an event which attracts more than double the audience of the Chelsea Flower Show.

The theme of the festival is “Celebrating Nature and Community in the Tropics”, and Jules will be one of twelve award-winning designers from around the world competing in the Best of Show Designer Garden category.

“It’s a massive challenge I can’t wait to tackle,” says Jules. “The judging criteria includes a strong focus on sustainability, recycling and upcycling, and drawing attention to climate crisis and biodiversity loss. I’m designing and doing a pre-build here, and while many plants and other components will be sourced from Singapore, my garden will have a distinctive Kiwi feel, complete with touches of paua, flax and a soundtrack recorded by my son James and some local performers especially for the show.”

“I’ve also propagated a miniature feijoa tree which I hope to showcase at the festival. It’s compact, fruitful, and perfect for community gardens and balconies. And of course I’d like to include the newly named dendrobium orchid Christopher Luxon!”

Now in its 9th year, the festival is a flower and garden lovers Utopia and is expected to attract record crowds when it runs 3 – 11 August at Singapore’s Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Says Jules, “It’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase Kiwi talent and landscaping design skills to a global audience. I’m determined to bring home the gold!”

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