Exclusive interview with designer Arne Maynard

After an absence of 11 years, Arne Maynard is back at the Chelsea Flower Show with Laurent-Perrier.

In 2000 he scooped Gold and Best in Show for his design with Piet Oudolf for Gardens Illustrated. Laurent-Perrier has a particularly formidable Chelsea record over its 14 years presence, with 11 Gold medals and 2 Best In Show awards, so we’re forecasting great things from this dynamic partnership.

We haven’t seen you at Chelsea for ages, Arne, why have you left it so long?

I’ve been watching the show gardens and just making notes about what’s being used and, more importantly really, what’s not being used. I’ve been designing this garden in my head for 12 years! Every year I saw what was going on and continued developing the design, and slowly, slowly I decided it was time to come back. I needed to have the right sponsor for the garden and it had to be Laurent-Perrier.

Why Laurent-Perrier?

The gardens they have sponsored at Chelsea over the years all stand out for having a sophisticated elegance, they are never showy, and that sums up this garden. It’s a real garden, no gimmicks, just a gentle, quiet but strong identity. This is what reflects their brand.

What do you mean by a ‘real’ garden?

I’ve felt for a long time that Chelsea gardens have become very much installations rather than gardeners’ gardens. I’d like people to see it and say ‘Great idea, I can recreate that plant combination at home’, or ‘I never thought of training roses like that, I’m going to try it’.

There’s a lot of planting and the mix is a lovely soft combination of roses, topiary and herbaceous perennials – it’s an English garden, but the colour combination sharpens it up and makes it more contemporary. I’ve trained different coloured roses over domes of hazel branches, so they look like topiary beehives of roses. It’s something people can easily do at home. Using lavender as a knot is another idea, we keep it clipped and
don’t let it flower, so the foliage is the focus. The choice of planting is also designed for year-round interest – not just for May!

Laurent-Perrier are committed Chelsea sponsors, why is garden design so important for them?

The philosophy for their champagne is that it comes from the soil and therefore it’s all about the art of horticulture. The soil comes first and everything else follows. The garden highlights horticultural skills and craftsmanship and traditional garden practices and this sits well with Laurent-Perrier. There will be no topiary champagne bottles to
celebrate their bicentenary this year, just a continuing journey of quality!