Show Gardens

Zoflora and Caudwell Children's Wild Garden

An expansive rather naturally styled garden with a restful feel, set in a woodland setting with a shallow, rock-edged stream running though it, and created for children with disabilities in mind

A path in a park with trees and grass
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This garden is designed to become more stimulating the further into it you get; as you enter the feel is open and relaxed with long grass and stone stepping stones that gradually reduce in size.

Awards

  • Gold medal winner
  • Best Show & World Garden
  • People’s Choice Show and World Garden

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Did you know...

Designed by:
Adam White & Andrée Davies (Davies White Ltd)
Built by:
Martyn Hughes of Gerald Davies Ltd
Sponsored by:
Zoflora
  • A huge bolder mounted on a pole that can be spun at the touch of a hand is designed to be fun and give autistic children an important sense of power
  • Edible plants have been widely used, including apple and pear trees and underplantings of showy day lilies (Hemerocallis) with their edible flower petals, all designed to engage children with the garden
  • A key specimen plant is the large weeping beech, a characteurful choice set towards the centre of the garden

About the Garden

This garden highlights the beneficial qualities of a therapeutic garden for children with various disabilities, in particular Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Playful and edible planting, wild grassy mounds, tree-top nests, a huge spinning boulder, hidden Zoflora woodland scent pots, a secret mushroom cave, a giant hollow oak log and opportunities to play and explore with water are all on offer. A number of secluded spaces within the garden offer somewhere safe to relax – a key feature in designing spaces for children with ASD.

Following the show, the garden will be reimagined at the Caudwell International Children’s Centre at Keele University, which provides multi-disciplinary support for children with developmental disorders.