Spring is springing, bringing with it the welcome sight of pretty little flowers peeking out from the wintery earth and despite it still being a little chilly the trees are blossoming. The season is calling us to get outdoors and fill empty containers with colour and warmth. The weatherman is predicting that in a week’s time we could be warming our bones in a blaze of Easter sunshine. We’re predicting that you’ll want to get out in the good weather, wake your outdoor living area up and fill it with lovely garden furniture, potted plants and tubs of herbs.

This is precisely why we are holding a BathVA Gardenalia focused Market on Sunday 3rd April at Green Park Station. Come and join us for the pick of the crop and spring into the season in style as you snap up galvanised buckets, old baths, troughs, crates, terracotta pots, traditional gardening tools, French bistro tables and chairs, garden benches, stoneware, grain sacks, statuary and find gardening inspiration in the pages of old books.

Repurposing items like old wheelbarrows, watering cans and fire buckets is nothing new, it is however very much the fashion at the moment. The theme goes well with the interior trend to gather salvaged pieces for the home and put them to good, and often new, use.

Gardens Illustrated Magazine is currently running a container planting series – one in the March issue and one in May – which shows how to put vintage, antique and salvaged pots to good use in the garden. Deputy Editor Sorrel Everton explained why choosing used items is the way to go; ‘with a general trend towards gardens that are more ecological and sustainable in planting and landscaping it makes sense to try and include vintage or recycled furniture, pots and other features in the garden. Plus, it’s a great way of adding a unique and individual style to your garden’.

At the recent Bath Decorative Antiques Fair there were some fine examples of 18th & 19th century brass planters, stone statuary, ornate rusted gates and French shutters. Finds like this can help to create a really unique outdoor space and provide a wonderful backdrop for florals and greenery. One stand featured a miniature greenhouse, complete with old leaves and twigs caught in the guttering – the replica piece would have originally been a salesman’s sample and was snapped up by a garden designer to form part of a display at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show

At our Gardenalia focused market we will host a colourful array of regular traders, and a few new faces, who will be bringing the best of outdoor living to the market. Abbey Pine will be showing their very popular mix of old and new garden furniture and there will be vintage and antique pieces sourced in the UK and beyond.

If you are looking for another great local source of Gardenalia then visit the garden store of the same name, on Bath’s London Road, who stock an interesting selection of garden antiques, used and reclaimed outdoor furniture, decorative items, old tools, gifts, plants and seeds.

If you really want to immerse yourself in looking for larger salvage items and unique gardenalia then you could make a weekend of it by visiting two fabulous annual events.

Arthur Swallow Fairs host the Decorative Home & Salvage Show which is popular with garden and landscape designers. They hold five a year, with the closest one being at Loseley Park, Surrey on July 15th – 17th. This three day ‘boutique’ event (including a trade day) is well worth the trek, with an added bonus for garden enthusiasts – the Loseley estate boasts 2.5 acres of beautifully kept walled garden housing roses, herbs and organic vegetables.

On June 18th – 19th is Salvo Fair, the UK’s largest architectural salvage event. Held at Sir William’s McAlpine’s private estate Fawley Hall near Henley on Thames. This event showcases the most inspiring range of architectural salvage and garden antiques. This event does ‘big’ well, so, if you’ve ever fancied an old red phone box, a set of Corinthian pillars or an ancient shepherds hut in your garden then this may be your dream event.

We hope to see you with a spring in your step at the BathVA Gardenalia market on Sunday 3rd April, 8.30am – 4pm.

Alice x

About Alice. Twitter: @alice_roberton