Back to Grandma’s House

The garden

Filled with secondhand furniture, retro textures and everyday household objects repurposed as creative plant displays, the garden celebrates nostalgia, sustainability and the natural place of plants in domestic life. Key features include a striking living plant wall, an aquascape, mounted plants and integrated terrariums and paludariums. Built using recycled and upcycled materials, the garden promotes affordable, sustainable living while highlighting the mental health benefits of bringing nature indoors. 

Inspired by grandparents’ homes and classic gardening guidance from D. G. Hessayon, the garden is rooted in nostalgia and sustainability. It celebrates the idea that plants naturally belong within domestic spaces, inspired by older family members who passed down a love of houseplants. 

The garden highlights creative, achievable ways to display houseplants that visitors can easily recreate at home. Key features include a low maintenance shallow aquascape as a central focal point, terrariums as an almost maintenance free solution for sensitive tropical plants, and vertical planting that makes use of wall space when horizontal room is limited. Built entirely with secondhand and upcycled materials, the garden reflects a growing, topical focus on sustainability and budget friendly design. It also celebrates the well-documented benefits of connecting with nature, demonstrating how bringing plants indoors can support mental health and overall wellbeing. 

The planting

The design combines classic, nostalgic plants like the maidenhair fern with modern hybrids such as Anthurium ‘Queen of Hearts’, alongside a strong focus on vertical planting through living walls and mounted displays. 

Key Plants 

• Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’ – a man-made mutation from the 1970s, once considered rare but now a popular and widely owned collector’s plant
• Platycerium ‘Staghorn Fern’ – a striking, prehistoric fern that naturally grows on and around trees
• Homalomena ‘Maggy’ – Aahardy, easy care foliage houseplant with a strong retro aesthetic
• Adiantum capillus‑veneris (maidenhair fern) – a classic and much loved plant, often associated with grandparents’ homes and a personal favourite of Alina
• Jewel orchid – Adam’s favourite, admired for its dramatic tropical foliage that appears almost glittered

Plants are supplied by independent specialists including Plant.Studio, Terrarium Hut and Mondo Exotica, chosen for their rare and unusual selections. The full display contains approximately 150–200 plants.  

Sustainability

The garden showcases a strong commitment to sustainability, demonstrating how thoughtful design can reduce waste. In collaboration with the Bristol Wood Recycling Project, an additional wall has been constructed entirely from reclaimed wood, eliminating the need for newly sourced timber. The design process involved extensive research into pre-owned selling platforms, proving that a beautiful and functional garden can be created using second-hand items. Upcycled glassware is reimagined as delicate decorative features, adding character and interest while highlighting the creative potential of reused materials. 

The designers – Alina Hibbert and Adam Critien

Alina’s love of plants is deeply rooted in her upbringing, with a gardener father inspiring a lifelong passion for horticulture. Caring for plants and working on her allotment has become both a grounding force and a source of comfort throughout her life. For Alina, creating a show garden fulfils a childhood dream and offers a chance to honour her family’s gardening heritage, especially her dad. 

Adam comes from a background in aquatics and conservation, which has shaped his strong connection to the natural world. He enjoys helping others grow plants at home and is particularly drawn to creative plant displays, especially terrariums and the thriving tropical ecosystems they can create. For Adam, creating a garden provides a platform to share the joy of growing plants with new audiences.

As indoor plant gardens are only in their second year at RHS Malvern, both designers see this as an exciting opportunity to inspire visitors who may not yet be familiar with terrariums, paludariums or creative houseplant displays. The Festival helps them demonstrate that indoor gardening is fun, achievable and full of possibility.