July 2016 | The Garden 83

Flower Show 2016Chelsea RHS

‘RHS Greening Grey Britain for Health, Happiness and Horticulture’ (above) was the vibrant RHS Feature Garden, designed by Ann-Marie Powell, to demonstrate why direct contact with plants is vital. The garden was part of the new, barn-like RHS Hub, home to information on campaigns and other areas of work carried out by the Society.

Ashwood Nurseries from the West Midlands won The Diamond Jubilee Award for best exhibit in the Great Pavilion with an astonishing display of Hepatica, woodland plants that normally flower in early spring. Owner John Massey (above) kept his plants in cold store to hold back flowering, bringing them to perfection just in time for the show. »

Gold; The Diamond Jubilee Award

With a spectacular new vista of the Royal Hospital, highly diverse garden designs and floral magnificence in the Great Pavilion, this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show (sponsored by M&G Investments) proved a memorable event

Photography: Sarah Cuttle, Neil Hepworth and Tim Sandall

The 5000 Poppies Project, co-ordinated by Phillip Johnson, used 200,000 hand-crocheted and knitted poppies.

RH

S /

Luk

e M

ac

GR

eG

oR

July 2016 | The Garden 8584 The Garden | July 2016

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

‘Viking Cruises Mekong Garden’Featuring floating flowerbeds overflowing with a range of productive and ornamental plants, and a deck shaped like the prow of a boat, this water-filled garden, designed by Sarah Eberle, brilliantly re-created the exotic and vibrant atmosphere of the floating gardens of Cambodia and the Mekong River. (Sponsor: Viking Cruises.)

‘God’s Own County - A Garden For Yorkshire’Designer Matthew Wilson took inspiration from the stained-glass Great East Window of York Minster. (Sponsor: Welcome to Yorkshire.)✤ RHS People’s Choice Award, Fresh: ‘The Modern Slavery Garden’.✤ RHS People’s Choice Award, Artisan Garden: ‘Meningitis Now Futures Garden’.

‘The Telegraph Garden’Stone, as rough boulders, benches or beautifully finished and formed into a bridge-like walkway, played a central role in Andy Sturgeon’s superb Show Garden. Inspired by California’s Sierra Madre and the foothills of the Andes, bronze fins were arranged to represent a mountain range; flowing water and a firepit added further elements, while the restrained, drought-resistant planting included dramatic, shrubby, orange-flowered Digitalis canariensis plus Schinus molle (pepper tree) and Cistus. (Sponsor: The Telegraph.)

Gold; Best Show Garden

Gold; Best Artisan Garden ‘The Marble and Granite Centre – Antithesis of Sarcophagi’Despite its austere outer appearance, this garden – hewn from a 44 tonne granite cube – contained a woodland garden, viewed through tiny peepholes and made to look larger through its mirrored interior (insets, right). Designers Martin Cook and Gary Breeze wanted to create a world turned inside out in a representation of desolation versus nature. (Sponsor: The Marble & Granite Centre.)

Surrounding a central water feature but beyond the splash zone, a selection of thymes softly carpeted the ground to add colour and scent, and to attract insects.

De

SiG

n: J

ek

ka

Mc

vic

aR

.G

aR

De

n: ‘

TH

e S

T J

oH

n’S

Ho

Spic

e –

a M

oD

eR

n a

po

TH

ec

aR

y’

A small space need not restrict inventive gardeners. This oriental–themed planting included a wisteria grown in a bonsai style, cascading from a sturdy pot.

De

SiG

n: k

az

uy

uk

i iSH

iHa

Ra

Ga

RD

en

: ‘Se

nR

i-Se

nT

ei –

Ga

Ra

Ge

Ga

RD

en

’

Elevated metalwork gulleys running with water inject dynamic interest; the gentle splashing sound brings a cooling element to an otherwise arid landscape.

De

SiG

n: a

nD

y S

Tu

RG

eo

n.

Ga

RD

en

: ‘T

He

Te

Le

GR

ap

H G

aR

De

n’

A cool, north-facing porch or shaded conservatory makes a great home for a collection of ferns. Growing in baskets attached to a mesh frame suits them well.

De

SiG

n: B

ow

De

nS

Formal water features can be planted up without detracting from their clean lines – here an appealing bed filled with Iris extends into the water, injecting interest.

De

SiG

n: c

HR

iS B

ea

RD

SHa

w..

Ga

RD

en

: ‘T

He

Mo

RG

an

ST

an

Le

y G

aR

De

n f

oR

GR

ea

T o

RM

on

D S

TR

ee

T H

oSp

iTa

L’Be inspired by the show

Gold; Best Fresh Garden

Copper adds a luxurious element – here beautifully crafted into an ornamental whirlpool, complemented by a pale stone mulch and echoed by the planting.

De

SiG

n: n

ick

Ba

iLe

y. G

aR

De

n: ‘

TH

e

win

Ton

Be

au

Ty

of

Ma

TH

eM

aT

icS

Ga

RD

en

’

Silver; BBC / RHS People’s Choice Award for Show Garden

»

86 The Garden | July 2016

More on ChelseaFor more on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 visit: www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea

✤ Download medal lists for winners. ✤ Browse profiles of all the gardens, and

find inspiring elements for your own plot.✤ View highlights from the Great Pavilion,

including RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year.✤ Watch videos from the show by Editor

Chris Young and Assistant Editor Phil Clayton.

Carefully constructed garden boundaries can become appealing features. Bronze- effect steel fins on a stone wall, some with yew buttresses, add a third dimension.

De

SiG

n: J

o T

Ho

Mp

Son

.G

aR

De

n: ‘

TH

e c

He

LSe

a B

aR

Ra

ck

S G

aR

De

n’

The roof of a shipping container used as an outdoor room made for an interesting elevated garden, maximising use of space for ornamental and productive plants.

De

SiG

n: a

nn

-Ma

Rie

po

we

LL

. Ga

RD

en

fe

aT

uR

e: ‘

RH

S G

Re

en

inG

G

Re

y B

RiT

ain

fo

R H

ea

LTH

, Ha

pp

ine

SS a

nD

Ho

RT

icu

LTu

Re

’

Provide evergreen structure with repeated plantings of architectural conifers. Here, the lower branches of Pinus sylvestris were removed to allow lush underplanting.

De

SiG

n: n

ick

Ba

iLe

y.G

aR

De

n: ‘

TH

e w

inTo

n B

ea

uT

y o

f M

aT

He

Ma

Tic

S G

aR

De

n’

Silver-Gilt

Gold

‘The Morgan Stanley Garden For Great Ormond Street Hospital’With a central canal-like pool, woodland-style planting of semi-mature Acer and Cornus, verdant underplanting and a bold, wood-framed pavilion, designer Chris Beardshaw created a calming and restful space that is being rebuilt at the hospital. (Sponsor: Morgan Stanley.)

‘The Harrods British Eccentric Garden’Designed by Diarmuid Gavin, this garden – standing on the challenging triangular site – featured a sunken pond and central folly, backed by superb domes of hornbeam. The soft, cottage garden-style planting included traditional Chelsea favourites such as Digitalis, Eremurus and roses, but this was a garden with a difference: bay cones and box balls in the borders, and the folly’s flowerbeds and windowboxes, rotated or moved up and down regularly in an amusing, choreographed display. (Sponsor: Harrods.)

‘Senri-Sentei – Garage Garden’

To maximise planting, this Japanese take on a front garden included bonsai

larch, moss-covered walls and a plant-filled balcony

cascading with acers above a parking space. Designer

Kazuyuki Ishihara included intriguing water features in

this Artisan garden to create a cool, tranquil

atmosphere. (Sponsor: Senri-Sentei Project.)

Gold; The President’s Award

RHS Chelsea Flower Show

News highlights

pp8–9