The Salad Bar

The Salad Bar
Designed by Melissa Jolly

Winner of the 2010 NS&I Growing Gardens Today competition

Melissa Jolly, from Reading, has always been keen on gardening and recalls helping her father to plant geraniums in the garden at the tender age of four. After having children of her own she decided to re-train as a garden designer at The Oxford College of Garden Design and has recently set up her own garden design business.

Melissa sees garden design as another form of art and this is another factor which inspired her creation, ‘The Salad Bar’. “I believe my design is an organised, practical and aesthetic place to grow food. Growing at home has become increasingly popular over the years; however some people are still unsure of how to do this. ‘The Salad Bar’ is a practical solution that shows just how you can grow your own in a beautiful space which the whole family can enjoy.”

As well as sustainability, modernity and growing your own, convenience is another key theme of ‘The Salad Bar’. The design will be made using FSC wood and includes a wooden circular unit that not only doubles up as an area for potting plants and a bar table, it also has storage space underneath for tools and a compact composter and an integral glass cold-frame. Melissa has selected plants that are more commonly planted or harvested in May – June, such as Swiss chard, radish, and strawberries – plants that she feels would make delicious ingredients for salads.

Click here to read Melissa's blog