RHS and BBC NW Tonight Northern Star Garden

Designed by television presenter and garden designer Lee Burkhill: the Garden Ninja, the RHS and BBC Northern Star Garden brings together five different communities, each with a border conveying its own distinct message; unified by repeating key plants. Linking the borders is a central area marked by blue posts and a blue bench, representing the North West’s coast and skies.
 
The garden shows how horticulture can empower local communities and bring them together, and is a design collaboration between Rochdale Mosque’s Amaani Initiative, Blackleach Allotments in Salford, Faiths4Change of Liverpool, Wigan and Leigh Hospice and Myerscough College Gardens.
 
The borders include an Islamic paradise garden border, a food forest border, a relaxing, pollen-rich perennial border, a wildlife-friendly bee border and a grow-your-own allotment-themed border. Together, the garden showcases the diverse range of work carried out by the groups in the North West region.

Key plants: Geranium (cranesbill), Verbena bonariensis (purple top), Alchemilla mollis (lady’s mantle)