Bonsai Experts Win 21st Chelsea Gold

LINGFIELD bonsai tree experts Peter and Dawn Chan are in a class of their own - and have 21 gold medals to prove it.The couple, who started exhibiting as amateurs in 1983, are delighted to have won yet another gold medal at this year's Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show.Beginning as Peter's hobby many years ago, the couple decided to put their extensive knowledge to good use and opened Herons Bonsai Ltd nursery in 1986. "We thought it would be nice tohave a little business of our own," said mother-of-two Dawn, 60. "We spotted an advertisement in the local newspaper for the land and when we saw the site it was perfect, it was too good a chance to miss."And so Herons Bonsai was born, soon becoming a local and national phenomenon. No other bonsai nursery or grower has ever achieved the record of 21 Chelsea gold medals that Peter has so far claimed.Peter's passion for bonsai has been the driving force behind the business which is in Wire Mill Lane, Newchapel, and the 64-year-old saidhe not ready to give it up just yet. "Bonsai is an art," said Peter, who has published several books and was the chairman of the British Bonsai Association during the early 80s. "It's always nice to achieve gold because you never know what the judges are thinking." * A garden design company based in South Nutfield has won a silver medal at this years Chelsea Show. Scenic Blue achieved success in their first year of exhibiting with a feature called Simon's Garden. This had a recycling theme with an old Land Rover one of the things used in its design.

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