The RHS Royal Legacy Garden

The garden

Patron of the RHS, the King is a passionate and hands-on gardener, who has regenerated the grounds of royal palaces at Highgrove, Windsor and Sandringham. The Royal Legacy Garden will reflect this lifelong love of gardening with plant choices that reflect the preferences of the King and echo some of the many beautiful green spaces he has created.

Taking inspiration from fractals and other regular repeating patterns found in nature, the garden includes sinuous paths leading visitors through the space, a biodiverse mix of trees and perennial and annual flowering plants and a paving design that echoes patterns found in nature, including those created by tree canopy ‘crown shyness’, a natural phenomenon where the upper branches of mature trees do not touch, creating a jigsaw-like pattern of gaps in the tree canopy.

The garden has been designed to form part of the larger ornamental gardens at Sandringham for the enjoyment of the King and the many thousands of visitors to the gardens each year.

The planting

In the planting, the King’s passion for trees has informed the selection, with species chosen to promote tree diversity. UK native species include yew and hornbeam that are known to promote biodiversity while resilient ‘future trees’, pride of India (Koelreuteria paniculata) and the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) have been included for their ability to weather the warming climate. In the perennial planting, salvias and nepeta have been selected for their bright colours and their pollinator value – with a colour palette of purple, yellow and a dash of striking bright red. 

Key plants:

• Koelreuteria paniculata (pride of India): this decorative tree was chosen for its beautiful large panicles of small, yellow flowers, loved by bees, which appear in midsummer among the divided foliage. The flowers are followed by bronze-pink fruits in autumn, when the foliage also turns yellow
• Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree): this climate-resilient small evergreen produces white urn-shaped flowers in spring, followed by strawberry-like red fruits that often persist through winter
• Taxus baccata (yew): a British native, yew is ideal for creating topiary shapes. Its needle-like evergreen leaves are perfect for clipping. Larger specimens may also produce red berries in autumn which provide food for birds and other garden wildlife
• Carpinus betulus: hornbeam is a native tree with ribbed oval leaves that turn bronze in autumn, and can cling to young stems until spring, offering year-round colour. Grows well on most soils, including clay and chalk
• Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’: this reliable pollinator-friendly perennial salvia produces aromatic grey-green foliage and purple-black stems of violet-purple flowers for many weeks from summer through to autumn
• Nepeta govaniana: an unusual nepeta, this dainty perennial has citrus scented green leaves and produces airy spikes of pale, soft-yellow hooded flowers from July through to September. It grows well in full sun or partial shade

Plants supplied by: Creepers Nursery, Deepdale Trees

Sustainability notes

Materials are being sourced locally, using Carrstone paving for paths and boulders, supplied by Mick George Ltd, a quarry with a Royal Warrant of Appointment, in Snettisham, Norfolk.

About the designer – Catherine MacDonald

Catherine has been working in the landscape and garden design sector since 2005, following a career in science (she has a PhD in the field of genetics). Catherine was joint winner of the first SGD Student of the Year competition in 2005. In 2006 she worked part-time for top landscape designers Luciano Giubbilei and Christopher Bradley-Hole before joining Luciano’s studio full time for three and a half years. Since 2010 she has been working at Landform Consultants Ltd and is now the Principal Landscape Designer. They are currently working on over twenty garden or landscape projects, at various stages of design or installation. Most of the projects are residential gardens in London and the surrounding counties. Catherine has designed numerous award-winning gardens at RHS Flower Shows since 2012.

The garden legacy

After the show, the garden trees, plants and other elements will be incorporated in the wider gardens of Sandringham Estate as part of a redesign process. Catherine MacDonald is designing and overseeing the re-build, alongside Head Gardener Jack Lindfield. It will be fully accessible to visitors to Sandringham and is being sponsored by the RHS and Boodles.