Every year the Royal Horticultural Society puts on the Chelsea Flower Show and every year it is always a great place to check out dreamy designs that will leave you with loads of ideas for your own garden designs. This year the gardens where broken into 4 different categories: Artisan, Fresh, Show and Feature gardens and we have curated all 31 gardens for your enjoyment and inspiration.
Artisan Garden Designs at the Chelsea Flower Show
The Garden Bed in partnership with Asda was designed by landscape architect Stephen Welch and Master Florist Alison Doxey and built by Frosts Landscapes. Created using a hospital bed complete with wheels, the Garden Bed represents a patient who has been wheeled to the door to enjoy a garden beyond. The patient is filled with the visuals and scents of the plants that surround them, allowing their thoughts to bloom in a creative tumble.
Designed by John Everiss and built by Peter Gregory Landscapes, Andrew Loudon and Chilstone, The Meningitis Now Futures Garden is sponsored by Meningitis Now and was inspired by the families whose lives have been touched by Meningitis. The garden is a celebration of courage, determination and positive outlook of the children that face the disease.
Together We Can is designed by Peter Eustance MSGD and built by Landform Consultants. Sponsored by Papworth Trust, which is a disability charity, the inspiration for the garden came about while working on their “I Can” campaign with deaf solo percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie. The garden is an abstract reference to Evelyn’s fascination with “sea music” and her “Teach the World to Listen” motto.
A Suffolk Retreat was designed by Frederic Whyte and built by Living Landscapes. Sponsored by Pro Corda Trust the inspiration comes from the formality of the Arts and Crafts gardens. The reference to the movement includes a secluded space with a small summerhouse and includes local artisan crafts, pargetting, handmade bricks, as well as flint and metalwork. Pro Corda Trust is a musical and educational charity and the pavilion is created as a place for children with special needs to learn about music.
Designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara, The Garage Garden is a place that any car enthusiast would love to have. Built by Ishihara Kazuyuki Design Laboratory Co. Ltd and Sponsored by Henri-Sentei Project, the Garage Garden is a two tier creation that incorporates landscape design with architectural design brilliantly. I love the turquoise edged garden roof!
Wow! The Mekong Garden designed by Sarah Eberie FSGD is inspired by floating gardens in the silk weaving area of Cambodia and the Mekong River. Built by Belderbos Landscapes and sponsored by Viking Cruises, the garden is definitely reminiscent of a boat traveling down river. In fact, the garden is a entirely water and the viewing platform is a floating lounger and just for a bit more whimsy, an overhead parasol inspired by traditional fishing nets and silk weaving adds a bit of vertical charm.
Fresh Garden Designs
Honeysuckle Blue(s) Garden was designed by Claudy Jongstra in collaboration with Stefan Jaspers as part of a larger Farm of the World Initiative where designers collaborate with educational groups to teach traditional sustainable techniques of using plants to create fabric dyes. Built by Cube 1994 and sponsored by Akzo Nobel the garden is filled with plants that have been used throughout time for their dye qualities.
The Garden of Potential is the coming together of rugged Icelandic Landscpaes, a Buddhist aesthetic and the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa. This combination of 3 elements is the design of Propagating Dan and built by Mark Wallinger. Sponsored by Green Wood Forest Part, the garden features a 5 tonne glacial boulder that somehow balances on top of the oak pavilion, sheltering a very delicate ceramic sculpture by Jesse Wine.
The Imperial Garden has such a serine appearance but actually has its muse in the complex relationship between Russia, Ukraine and the UK – anything but serine! Designed by Tatyana Goltsova and built by Garden Link, the Imperial Garden is sponsored by Imperial Garden. The garden ponders what would happen if humans took a step back and removed politics from the world and central to the symbolism is the theme of lace which weaves its way through the natural and the man-made, framing a water feature called “River of Time”. Both the lace Lilly pads and the figure are by sculptor Victoria Chichinadze.
In a statement of minimalism filled with complexity, the Marble and Granite Center – Antithesis of Sarcophagi is the avant garde design of Martin Cook and Gary Breeze. Built by Chris Holland Landscapes and sponsored by the Marble and Granite Center Ltd. This garden represents a world turned inside out – a garden inside a sculpture. In fact this 44 tonne cube contains a hidden woodland visible only through cracks in the ash charred exterior.
The Modern Slavery Garden is a celebration of The Modern Slavery Act passed in the British Parliament in 2015. The garden is a celebration of the day when there will be no more slaves. Designed by Juliet Sargeant, MSGD and built by The Outdoor Room, the garden is surrounded by a fence and two doors that are opened wide, beckoning all to come and enjoy. Sponsored by The Modern Slavery Garden Campaign the garden although beckoning everyone to enter, is also fenced and able to be closed off, keeping everyone entrapped much like a slave. Conversely, the doors also open wide and lead to the path of freedom. Also the checkered floor could easily reference England’s own checkered past when it comes to slavery but the checkers are breaking apart and disappearing – thank goodness!
Lee Bestall has designed the Urban Connections garden to showcase the power of love and friendship that can overcome the melancholy and isolation of both the elderly and the home bound people. Built by Jon Housley and sponsored by Victoria Business Improvement District, the garden reflects on the beauty of companionship by creating places for human interaction and by using companion plants such as the silver birches and the metaphorical oak seating – plants that thrive in each others company.
The World Vision Garden represents the journeys of life with all its highs and lows. Designed by John Warland and built by Garden Builders, it is inspired by the lives of children and the floating waves of turf symbolizes the unpredictability of life. Sponsored by World Vision this garden is a tribute to all the children that live in places of poverty and disaster.
Show Garden Designs
Designed and built by Diarmuid Gavin Designs the Harrods British Eccentrics Garden is inspired by kinetic sculpture and is filled with machinery performing simple tasks. Layered into this quintessential British garden was a short performance every 15 minutes for the duration of the show.
Designed by Catherine MacDonald, the Hartley Botanical Garden includes a glasshouse attached to a walled garden filled with tropical, aquatic and carnivorous plants.
Designed by Matthew Wilson, built by Aire Valley Landscaping Services and sponsored by Welcome to Yorkshire, a Garden for Yorkshire was inspired by the Great East Window at York Minster. For this reason the garden features a 5x3m stained glass panel filled with ancient inspiration.
The Brewin Dolphin Garden is full of fragile references from the cages of dry rock set upon dry riverbed to the flowers themselves. Designed by Rosy Hardy and built by Bowles and Wyer Contracts the garden explores the fragility and uniqueness of nature as bright swathes of color encircle and capture – as if to hold tight – the beautiful blooms of summer and the world itself represented by a metal globe covered in abstract bursts of energy.
The M&G Garden was inspired by designer Cleve West MSGD’s memory of an ancient oak woodland in the Exmoor National Park. Built by Swatton Landscape it includes a stone pathway meandering through a miniature woodland garden complete with rock seats.
Hugo Bugg designed the Royal Bank of Canada Garden to celebrate water as a sacred entity, exploring the divine qualities and its connection to life and humankind. Built by Landscape Associates and Himalayan Landscaping the garden is meant to increase awareness and appreciation of water, filled with flora that live in a dry Mediterranean pine habitat while a small pool of water in the center of the garden is elevated for contemplation.
The Chelsea Barracks Garden is the design of Jo Thompson MSGD. Built by Landform and sponsored by Qatari Diar, roses are a main feature of the garden and reference the Garrison Chapel and its historical Rose Window. A bronze sculpture pays tribute to the Barrack’s former residents and a sculpted stone tidal rill references the lost River Westbourne.
The LG Smart Garden is the design of Hay Joung Hwang. The garden is inspired by intelligent homes and demonstrates how technology can be incorporated into both home and garden. Built by Randle Siddeley and sponsored by LG Electronics the garden creates a balance between landscaping and architecture seamlessly merging the indoor and outdoor lifestyles that we all want.
St John’s Hospice Modern Apothecary was designed by Jekka McVicar after conversing with doctors and care professionals about how gardens and plants can improve our own health. Built by Crocus the garden features research based plants known to be beneficial to health and well being and includes a small tranquil space that wraps around a water feature surrounded by scented plants.
L’Occitane Garden celebrates the 40th anniversary of its natural beauty brand by portraying a discarded old steam distiller discovered by a young Olivier Baussan in Provence back in 1976 that began his journey into the production of essential oils from local rosemary and lavender growers. Designed by James Bausson MSGD and built by Peter Dowle the garden includes 300 different local Provence plant varieties and native Provence materials where used.
The Morgan Stanley Garden was designed and built by Chris Beardshaw to be featured at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show before it was relocated to its permanent home at the Great Ormond Street Hospital. The garden offers a private and reflective space for families of children undergoing treatment to gather and regroup. Aside from the rich green woodland scheme, the garden also features a reflective water feature and a Japanese azumaya or summerhouse.
Designed by Sam Ovens, the Cloudy Bay Garden is inspired by Cloudy Bay’s 30 year wine making heritage. Built by The Outdoor Room it includes a secluded red cedar timber retreat with a boardwalk cantilevered over a reflective pool. At the show’s completion the garden elements will be donated to Horation’s Garden, a charity that creates gardens in NHS spinal injury centers. Bravo!
The Telegraph Garden is inspired by geological events that shape our landscape. Designed by Andy Sturgeon FSGD the garden represents a captured landscape within a larger wilder setting. Built by Crocus dramatic bronze fins represent an ancient mountain range with a stream of melting water traveling through the gorge below.
Vestra Wealth’s Garden of Mindful Living was designed by Paul Martin for a client that lives within a city. It is inspired by the Zen and Yoga of Eastern cultures and offers a calm space to unwind after the hustle and bustle of working in the city. Built by Beautiful Horizon Landscape the garden includes Corten Steel, grey splashed limestone and large multi stemmed trees for dappled shade.
The Husqvarna Garden includes a sunken lawn and beautifully sculpted evergreens. Designed by Charlie Albone it also includes a water rill that runs around the garden for the added element of sound and movement. Built by Conway landscaping the garden includes a a floating cantilevered structure and blue stone cobble pathways.
The Watahan East and West Garden was designed by Chihori Shibayama and Yano Tea the garden is inspired by their combined Japanese and English experiences. Built by Landform Consultants and Watahan Design Lab the Zen gardens and asymmetrical bonsai forms are combined with the dense perennial gardens England is best known for. Two water features within the garden represent the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans.
The Winton Beauty of Mathematics Garden, designed by Nick Bailey and built by Gardenlink is a celebration of the beauty of mathematics and algorithms. A garden where logistics and beauty come together in an balance of left and right brain though it takes on different functions from its bench to its stair banister, to planters and overflowing garden beds. As someone who is ambidextrous this garden really speaks to the equal parts of creativity and logic within me.
Feature Garden Designs
the RHS Greening Grey Britain for Health, Happiness and Horticulture is the Chelsea Flower Show feature garden for 2016. Designed by Ann-Maire Powell and built by Outdoor Room revels in the greening up of grey spaces. It is the first ever walk through exhibit and demonstrates how direct contact with plants and gardens is vital to our souls. Included in the garden are bright borders, benches,a water feature, a bee friendly wildflower meadow, edible potted plants and a kitchen garden.
