The Lion King Anniversary Garden by Juliet Sargeant, an ode to the 25th anniversary of Disney’s West End musical which aims to “rethink the English garden” with climate change in mind, has won the top award on the opening day of the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2024.
Inspired by the stage production and offering visitors a space to sit and reflect on their own journey through the ‘Circle of Life’ at the centre of a community garden, judges awarded Sergeant with Best Show Garden. The garden also won the Environmental Innovation Award.
Exodus Adventure Travels: The Sounds of Adventure Garden by Nic Howard, a sustainable oasis designed to engage all five senses to invoke a sense of excitement and discovery, secured the Best Construction Award.
In the Get Started gardens category, Katerina Kantalis picked up a hat-trick as her entry, The Mediterraneo Garden, was awarded the Best Get Started prize, Best Construction award and a gold medal. The Mediterraneo Garden is inspired by the warmth and vibrancy of Greek landscapes and provides an escape from the everyday while addressing the need for climate adaptation in our gardens.
Winds of Change, by James Miller, Marko Yau and Saachi Parasrampuria, picked up the Best Resilient Pocket Planting award. The coastal pocket garden is inspired by Jaywick Sands on the north Essex coast, one of the UK’s most deprived towns where residents form a resilient coastal community despite facing major challenges from climate change.
Paul Cowell, chair of the Assessing Judges, said: “There was a huge contrast among the gardens. I’m delighted at Juliet getting this award. I think what she has done is fantastic. I’m also delighted for Nic Howard – what they’ve got is visually striking and impressive. We’d like to congratulate all the designers who took part for their fantastic achievements.”
On being awarded Best Show Garden, Sargeant said: “This is amazing. What I really really wanted to do was show people what can be done with drought tolerant planting. This savannah-style planting is an opportunity to rethink the English Garden as what it’s going to look like in 50 years’ time. It’s really lovely to have won this; I hope people will look at it and think ‘that’s something that works’.”
Kantalis said: “I’m thrilled, delighted and relieved to have won these awards. I just wanted to show that this is my heritage, this is what I’ve grown up with, but I’ve lived in the UK for a long time. Seeing the changing climate, having grown up in countries that are hot, some of these gardening practices we can learn from – how you can do a beautiful, Mediterranean garden with a purpose as well.”
RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival runs from 2-7 July 2024 and tickets are available online at rhs.org.uk/Hampton
For a full list of awards, please visit: www.rhs.org.uk/press/shows/hampton-court
