Greening train platforms and the cosy feel of a pub on an inner city balcony are among some of the big ideas in the smallest of spaces
The Balcony and Container Gardens category has returned for its third year at RHS Chelsea and for the first time, all the design teams are headed by women.
The category aims to give emerging designers a foot in the door at the world’s most prestigious flower show, with mentoring by multi-award winning RHS Chelsea designer Paul Hervey-Brookes.
“From grow-your-own to climate resilience, they are packed full of ideas for visitors to try at home to help make their own spaces more productive, resilient, and restorative”
The innovative designs incorporate ideas for how those with limited space and resources can incorporate drought-tolerant planting and easy-to-grow edible plants.
Design duo Amelia Bouquet and Emilie Bausager make their RHS Chelsea debut with The Platform Garden. Inspired by unused overground platform spaces in London, the garden features concrete bins as planters and novel ways to harvest rainwater, and will eventually be re-homed at an existing station.
Emma Tipping, who began her career working in an office in central London, has designed The St George ‘Alight Here’ Balcony Garden with the character and comfort of a good local pub for young professionals to escape the pressures of modern life.
Julie Haylock, a former staffer at Avon and Somerset Constabulary, has designed a garden inspired by the pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning, offering viewers the walk through time experienced along the Jurassic Coast.
Gini Denison-Pender was a lawyer specialising in children’s cases before moving into garden design. She has teamed up with Philippa Craddock and Anna Garner to create a design which merges the magic of rainforests with the world of children’s books in their balcony garden, The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You Places.
Camilla Windsor-Clive and Joanne Edmonds have designed a Container Garden providing a sensory healing space for visually impaired people. The Hampden Stargardt Garden is inspired by Camilla’s two sons who have Stargardt disease.
Mentor Paul Hervey-Brookes says: “The Balcony and Container Gardens this year do not shy away from the big issues of the day and they demonstrate that even the smallest space can have a big impact. From grow-your-own to climate resilience, they are packed full of ideas for visitors to try at home to help make their own spaces more productive, resilient, and restorative.”
“We hope seeing these women create beautiful gardens at the world’s most famous flower show will inspire the next generation of female designers to pursue a career in horticulture.”
The prevalence of female designers in the category is welcomed by Helena Pettit, RHS Director of Gardens and Shows.
“There is much work to be done around increasing diversity in horticulture but it is an encouraging step forward to have a garden category at RHS Chelsea filled with so many women,” she said. “We hope seeing these women create beautiful gardens at the world’s most famous flower show will inspire the next generation of female designers to pursue a career in horticulture. A celebration of ‘Women in Horticulture’ will also be at the heart of the Great Pavilion this year.”
All the Balcony and Container Gardens
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