Kelways at Chelsea 2022
Finally we are incredibly excited to announce seven of the nine gardens that we are associated with for The Chelsea Flower Show 2022. Over the coming weeks, we will talk about each garden in more detail and the challenges of growing, but as a taster, here is an overview of the gardens as announced yesterday.
MEDITE SMARTPLY Building the Future
Designed by : Sarah EberleThis atmospheric edge-of-forest garden has a feature building at its heart constructed using MEDITE SMARTPLY carbon-negative products to illustrate the future of sustainable landscapes and buildings. It is inspired by natural vertical rock strata and is topped with a green sloping roof. A waterfall cascades over the building to a pool below.
Surrounding the timber feature and pool are a selection of damp-loving, rare and wild species of flora. Many of the tree specimens are native to the forests of Southern Ireland, where MEDITE SMARTPLY source the timber for their products. The combination of native and naturalised plants creates an informal textural verdant landscape.The RNLI Garden
Designed by : Chris BeardshawThe RNLI Garden is a celebration of the history and modernity of this multi-faceted charity, which has been saving lives at sea for almost 200 years. Its design marries style hints from the organisation’s Georgian origins with contemporary design cues to reflect the forward-looking spirit of the RNLI today.
A classically inspired, green oak pavilion at the rear features carved lettering and turned columns. The structure is spliced by a contemporary, green oak arcade. A textural Purbeck stone path flows through deep and luscious borders.
The rich planting provides a celebration of texture, form and foliage and hundreds of flowering herbaceous perennials create a pastel palette of whites, blues and pinks. Large statement trees, including Ulmus parvifolia and Pinus sylvestris hint at the traditional lifeboat building materials used when the RNLI was formed. The result is a calm and confident garden that inspires inquisitiveness and provides space in which to reflect on the many elements of the RNLI’s lifesaving work.Morris & Co.
Designed By : Ruth WillmottWilliam Morris was an influential designer and cultural figure of the Victorian era. His impact is still felt today. He loved nature and his designs were heavily influenced by the flowers he saw around him.
This garden is designed for Morris & Co. by re-imagining back into a garden two of Morris’s iconic patterns. Morris’s first pattern Trellis (1862) inspires the garden layout and pathways and one of his most famous patterns Willow Boughs (1887) is reflected in the design of the pavilion and water channels. The pavilion incorporates patterned posts and intricate metal screens. The garden brings his continuing legacy to a contemporary audience.
A selection of plants from Morris’s designs are included alongside cultivars of cottage garden favourites. The planting reflects his love of colour – earthy reds, apricots and blues predominate – while providing food and habitat for birds.
The garden’s legacy will be to seed several new community gardens in Islington in collaboration with the Arc Centre Gardening Collective.The Meta Garden : Growing the Future
Designed By : Joe PerkinsThe garden is designed to emphasise the inseparable connection between plants and fungi within woodland ecosystems. Inspired by the complex mycelium networks that connect and support woodland life, the garden highlights the beauty and versatility of timber, and the critical role of nature-based solutions, such as tree planting and forest management, in tackling climate change.
Featuring a complex pavilion structure inspired by the interaction between the mycorrhizal network and its host tree's roots, the garden is intended to be an immersive experience and remind us of the urgent need to redress the balance of our relationship with the natural world. The central seating area is sunken into the environment with a rising woodland edge of trees behind, and a stylised meadow in front. The garden makes use of a naturalistic, future-proofed planting palette, which takes its inspiration from the British countryside and will conjure a tranquil and intriguing atmosphere.The SSAFA Garden, supported by CCLA
Designed By : Amanda WaringThe backdrop of the Royal Hospital Chelsea is the perfect setting for this garden providing a military connection to the ‘SSAFA Garden, supported by CCLA’. This sanctuary garden offers a quiet, secluded area within a larger garden, providing a place for calm and respite for those staying at Norton House, run by SSAFA, the Armed Forces Charity.
The pandemic has highlighted the importance of the garden at Norton House and this space, with the enclosure of the timber walls and hedging, creates an area of security and quiet reflection and also a place to sit and enjoy the garden. The wing-shaped roof structure echoes the lines of SSAFA’s Norton House, while the gentle sound of the infinity water feature and the movement of the layered planting are intended to restore and lift the spirit.
After the event, this sanctuary garden will be moved to Norton House, providing an area of therapeutic reflection for those friends and family visiting their loved ones at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre (DMRC).A Garden Sanctuary by Hamptons
Designed By : Tony WoodsA Garden Sanctuary by Hamptons creates a space for garden living. A garden takes us out of our homes, lets us decompress, play and reconnect.
Under the canopy of pine and birch trees the sound of water gently trickles through the garden. Rounded glacial boulders and natural stepping stones contrast with the building and provide an intentional way to slow the journey to the cabin, through the planting and across the moving water. Boundaries of Fagus sylvatica hedging and charred larch panels provide a foil to show off the stunning bark of the Betula nigra and Pinus sylvetris.
The garden is rich in pollinating plants with water for wildlife and densely planted trees to encourage birds into the garden. Sweetly scented favourites including phlox and Syringa repeat through the planting to provide clouds of scent as the visitor meanders through the garden.The Boodles Travel Garden
Designed By : Tom HoblynIn 1962, 60 years ago, Anthony Wainwright, grandfather to the current chairman of Boodles travelled around the world in just 16 days. The Boodles Travel Garden is a garden to celebrate this incredible endeavour with planting drawn from all corners of the world, creating a global garden, which offers a calm sanctuary to rest and reflect on the journey.
Planting with interesting form and habit has been chosen and include potted Cyathea cooperii, native to India with stunning bark pattern, Cornus controversa from East Asia, with horizontal habit and Acer pensylvanicum from USA with its striped white bark. Below the structural planting is a woodland stumpery-style underplanting with a trail of blue and burnt orange indicating a journey and creating movement in the planting. The mounded beds partially obscure views creating a sense of discovery.-
Posted by Liam Murphy
12th January 2022
