Chelsea Must See Gardens and Stands

Monday, May 21 , 2018

Chelsea Must See Gardens and Stands

Don’t Miss the Best Bits!

There’s a lot to see at the RHS Chelsea Flower show and with only a day to see it all you want to make sure you don’t miss the true gems. Here is our guide to the best bits and must sees of 2018!

Space to Grow

Space to Grow is a new section along Hospital Way to inspire the public with new designs, materials and technology that are cutting edge for modern horticulturists.  This is an exciting section that is bound to make you think. Our top pics are:

Myeloma UK Garden – Designed by John Everiss

This garden will be seen from EVERYWHERE! The enormous sculpture made from layered perspex towers over the show, raising awareness of an incurable, but manageable illness.

The garden is nearly 40 x 20 feet in the Space to Grow section.

 

Designed by John Everiss, winner of the BBC People’s Award in 2016 for his Meningitis Now Garden. The turquoise perspex lets the light flow through the  sculpture and casts it’s tint over the plants and large welsh boulders that fill the garden.

 

 

This garden gives a positive message about the fight against myeloma, which is not yet curable. The enormous head and shoulder sculpture at the centre of the garden is modelled on Gemma Peace, from Helensburgh, Scotland, whose mother died from the disease. The sculpture represents the role of the carer, who is often a pivotal figure in ensuring the patient remains the central focus of a myeloma diagnosis. This is unmissable. Weighing seven tonnes and a whopping 12 feet high, constructed from layers of transparent blue Perspex® acrylic. The sculpture was be part-assembled before the show and, as the gates at Chelsea are nine feet high, it had to be fully constructed on the grounds.

John and his team have used cutting edge technology to create this unique sculpture. First, they scanned Gemma’s head and arms to generate a very detailed 3D digital image, which was then turned into the slices of data used to create the multiple layers of the sculpture. The Sculpture blows seeds from her hand, this is sowing hope for the future. An impressive garden and a real show stopper.

 

Pearfisher Garden Designed by John Warland

If you enjoyed the BBC’s  Blue Planet series then you’ll like this garden. Celebrating the biggest garden on Earth, the sea bed, it also warns of the dangers of abusing oceans and destroying eco systems with plastics and non sustainable materials.

Marvel at the beauty of these fragile and endangered environments, recreated with succulents, cacti and exotic plants. With real aquariums of fish combined with blue resin slabs with jellyfish models to get that ocean vibe. This garden even has a glass roof to replicate the surface of the water that the sculpture dives into, creating a ripple effect with the light to make this garden feel like it is actually under water. This is a really clever and precise garden, using plants, light and glass with an acute attention to detail to impart a powerful  environmental warning.

Artisan Gardens

These compact garden never disappoint. Small but impeccably crafted. Our bespoke stone temple for Meningitis Now featured in this section in 2016 and it is a treasure trove of imaginative design and precise planting to make a thought provoking space. Using traditional methods and materials, where rustic combines with a modern twist. Our top picks are:

O-mo-te-na-shi no NIWA -The Hospitality Garden Designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara

This designer who never disappoints. Bursting with Japanese Maples around a tranquil pond, this  garden evokes the Japanese tradition of hospitality. Compact, but bursting with details.

The key feature of the garden is an octagonal Azumaya, or garden house, with a copper roof. This garden is made to forget about time and admire it’s beauty for an eternity. You could sit on a bench and watch it for hours, or at least drink it in while you have your lunch!

The Supershoes, Laced with Hope Designed by Laura Anstiss

This garden combines art, sculpture and planting to depict the ways the charity Supershoes empowers sick children and their families when a child is diagnosed with cancer. The gold lace, entwines the garden to represent the disease, while the bright planting of roses, poppies, peonies and Foxgloves are to uplift and boost families during such a stressful time. This is thought provoking and pops with colour. With a bright backdrop, created by artist Karen Huwen and joyful sculptures by Alison Bell, this is a gold medal hopeful. Designed by local, Laura Anstiss, we are cheering for this garden!

Show Garden

These are the biggest and most extraordinary gardens to make a lasting impact. Main avenue’s big hitters. These always makes the RHS Chelsea Flower Show world leading and extraordinary. It’s difficult to choose just two, but here are out top picks:

David Harber and Savills Garden Designed by Nic Howard

David Harbour has built outstanding trade stands over the years. This year’s upgrade to a full blown show garden will be stunning.

In this garden has to be seen to appreciate just how beautiful this is. The different layers represent mankind’s evolving relationship with the environment. Starting from grass and gravel, moving through the garden to peonies, lupins, geums, hostas and geraniums reflecting how mankind mould and reflect the environment around them. Artistic blend of shape and colours, this garden is vying for a top medal from the RHS. The spikey gold statue represents The Big Bang and the way the light falls on it throughout the day is truly wonderful. A must see!

The Trailfinders South African Wine Estate Designed by Jonathan  Snow 

This is the first time that Jonathan has designed a show garden at Chelsea or anywhere!  This garden packs so much in. With a thatched homestead, country garden, with roses entwined around the pillars on the tiled terracotta veranda. The garden moves downward into a grape farm in neat rows, before it expands out and up into the rocky South Africa terrain that explodes with native fynbos. Jonathan has even captured the hot South African sun with plants, including fynbos, charred by bush fires.  This packs in so many plants and environments in this one space creating an incredible effect. Whatever the judges decide, this is a garden to be extremely proud of. Impressive for a first time designer.

Trade Stands

A trade stand can be modelled to be a thing of beauty. There’s only one we would recommend, please come and see us at PW/607!

Chilstone

The classical Kew fountain is the centre piece of the stand. Back to celebrate 65 years in of handcrafting cast stone garden ornament and architectural stone, this year’s stand recreates a compact version of a smart entrance and formal front garden. Last year’s winners of a 5 star award, this stand always delivers quality planting and a friendly welcome.

New Chilstone Sculptures

Chilstone are unveiling two new sculptures by the talented Admir Sljivic. The first follows on from his sculpture, Leda and the Swan, shortlisted for the 2017 RHS product of the Year, We are proud to showcase The Birth of Helen. This mixed media sculpture depicts the egg laid by Leda after her encounter with Zeus and a swan, hatching and the beautiful demi-god Helen of Troy emerging. We will be unveiling  Aquila the eagle later in the week, so keep your eyes peeled!

 

 



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