The Lighthouse Garden

This Show Garden has been created for its forever home at The Lighthouse Child Development Centre, a facility in Essex that offers services for children and young people aged zero to 18 years who have neurodevelopmental and neurodisability disorders.

There is a distinct nautical theme to the space, evocative of both The Lighthouse Centre itself and its Southend-on-Sea location. Designed with The Lighthouse’s clients in mind, all elements of the planting and hard landscaping alike have been chosen to stimulate the senses.

The hardscaping has been constructed with help from young people who are either themselves clients of The Lighthouse or have siblings who use the centre. Some of the plants, meanwhile, have been grown by members of local youth groups, with the remainder sourced from the Southend Council Parks Nursery. The garden is a joint project between Essex Partnership University, which runs The Lighthouse, and Southend Youth Offending Service.