In the Young Designer Gardens, a category that celebrates new and upcoming talent, Blue Diamond Garden Centres: Where Grief Grows Quiet by Sophie Leo explores how gardens can bring peace and refuge to those experiencing grief. Just as the ancient sheepfolds across the British countryside once provided refuge for shepherds and their flocks, this garden will reimagine a sheepfold in the form of a stone structure. With soft planting and comfortable seating, the garden provides visitors with a safe space to pause, rest and reflect on their journey with grief.
In a world where young girls face tremendous levels of pressure to meet unrealistic societal expectations, often through social media, Young Designer Sophie Sturgeon has created A Space For Her. Its soft planting, sheltered decking area, curvilinear path and calming palette will encourage young women to pause, reflect, and build self-confidence and self-worth in a calm, supportive environment away from all the digital noise.
Completing this year’s Young Designer category is Silo: All that comes in remains, by Abigail Stoyle. The garden will demonstrate how designs can be transformed using reclaimed and repurposed materials, which are often labelled as “waste.” The planting follows an edimental approach where vegetables, herbs and edible flowers feature within the design, alongside an outdoor kitchen and pergola.
In the Show Gardens, Elle Arnett will be bringing Macmillan Cancer Support: The Nascent Shade Garden in collaboration with Artisan Landscapes. The garden will feature birch trees, lime and stone sculptures, and brass details. These features are, at first, spaced unevenly, demonstrating the inequalities people experience in cancer care. The space then transitions and the layout becomes more even, representing the work Macmillan are doing to close the gap.
Inspired by Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Oregon – The Productive Garden, by Sadie May Stowell, recreates beautiful orchard landscapes. The garden uses elements that depict the valley such as fruit trees arranged in gentle curves, flowing water, and lavender and A term generally applied to non-woody, flowering plants that are natural to a particular area and grow there without human assistance. More accurately, British wildflowers normally applies to UK natives including plants introduced into the wild before 1500.
Clare Greene, RHS Badminton Show Manager, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be bringing an RHS show to South Gloucestershire this year, a new location for us. What has been wonderful to see is so many designers taking inspiration from the local area and incorporating features traditionally found within its landscape. We are delighted to not only be celebrating the local area, but also talented designers and the power that gardening has to help positively restore both people and the planet - we can’t wait to see this year’s gardens come to life in July.”
The Cotswolds’ rich heritage is reflected in elements of this year’s Artisan Gardens. Joshua Fenton incorporates hedge laying into Electuary, a pastoral craft which has a rich and ancient history connected to the region. Wicker weaving, thatching, beekeeping and herbalism are also showcased in the space. Set within the Cotswolds, Honing Heritage by Nick Leitch mirrors character and materials traditionally found throughout the region. Inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 1800s and horticulturist, Gertrude Jekyll’s planting philosophy, the garden features dry stone walls, formal flagstone paths and naturalistic planting.
Elsewhere in the Artisan Gardens, Gloucestershire designer Rachael Austin has taken inspiration from the local woodlands and valleys to design the Ruskin Mill Trust - Artisan Woodland Craft Garden. Its materials and planting represent the woodlands in the valley at Ruskin Mill College, with a green and naturalistic planting palette. Finally, inspiration from Flo Hamer’s artistry of the endangered craft of split hazel basketry has informed Henry T Pope’s Split Hazel Basketry: Weaving Tradition with Flo Hamer garden.
First-time exhibitors will showcase their gardening skills in the Pocket Planting category centred around this year’s theme ‘The Variety of Life’. Visitors will be able to explore Houseplant A miniature garden or ecosystem contained within a glass or plastic container. If sealed, self-sustaining terrariums need very little to no maintenance. Small and slow-growing foliage plants, miniature ferns and mosses are great for sealed terrariums, and succulents and cacti for open terrariums. The first example of a terrarium was a Wardian Case, which helped plant collectors bring back and introduce new, exotic plants in the 19th century.
