RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 – 27 Creative Garden Designs that will Inspire Everyone
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 incorporated the following categories; artisan gardens, feel good gardens, fresh gardens, show gardens and the Greening Great Britain garden (GGB). We have showcased a photo and description of each of the 27 gardens within the 5 categories. There is so many beautiful ideas within the gardens that there is something to inspire anyone and everyone guaranteed!
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - Artisan Gardens
The Poetry Lover’s Garden is a formally structured terraced garden built of stone with a stainless-steel water fall. It represents a tranquil, meditative retreat in which nature, the poem and the imagination come together. Designed by Fiona Cadwallader.
The CWGC Centenary Garden is designed to honour the fallen while celebrating the 100yrs the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has looked after more than 1.7 million war dead in more than 150 countries. 2 stone statues of Royal Naval servicemen stand guard on each side of the garden and it is accessed through an arch inspired by a bronze wreath at the largest CWGC cemetery in the world – Tyne Cot in Belgium. Designed by David Domoney.
The Seedlip Garden was inspired by the 17th century apothecary origins of Seedlip and the modern-day pioneering approach to distillation. In fact, the 1651 book “The Art of Distillation”, is displayed in a glass case next to the garden. A central copper sculpture depicts the 350-year journey from book to bottle that inspired Seedlip’s founder to develop the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirits in his kitchen in the woods. Designed by Dr. Catherine MacDonald.
The World Horse Welfare Garden tells the story of a horse rescued from a small, abandoned and derelict stable where it is then nursed back to health by the charity and now lives in a bright, open meadow where it can thrive. A narrow stream even travels through the meadow. Designed by Adam Woolcott and Jonathan Smith.
Walker’s Wharf Garden Supported by Doncaster takes a derelict industrial space and turns it into a usable outdoor garden. Included in the garden are a disused industrial wharf, a drawbridge, crane arm and a decked area for sitting. Designed by Graham Bodle
Hagakure – Hidden Leaves has a tatami mattress bench located in the shade of a tree. The colour scheme is white which is a symbol of purity and sacredness in Japan, red which represents energy, vitality, heat and power as well as love and intimacy and blue which symbolizes clean, calm and stability. Designed by Shuko Noda.
The IBTC Lowestoft; Broadland Boatbuilder’s garden showcases a ¾ size replica of a 900-year-old boat discovered in July, 2013 made of oak. In the garden, it stands on a small jetty surrounded by plants and ttees native to the dykes of the region. Designed by Gary Breeze.
Gosho No Niwa No Wall, N War garden was inspired by the Kyoto residence of Japanese emperors. That garden could never be With a naturally patina’d copper building, a glass floor and steps, sedum covered walls and green roof as well as a pool, this artistic garden represents the peace and beauty the historical garden expressed. Designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara.
The Viking Cruises Garden of Inspiration was inspired by Antoni Gaudi and the Modern Arts Movement in Barcelona, one of the key destinations for the Viking cruise line. Gaudi and the movement where well known for intricate tile work, wild colours and lavish, intricate details. Designed by Sarah Eberle.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - Feel Good Gardens
The Anneka Rice Colour Cutting Garden is designed to give you flowers every square inch of planted area. The wealth of coloured blossoms envelopes a secluded flagstone sitting area with narrow brick pathways radiating out to the various beds for ease of cutting. Designed by Sarah Raven.
The Chris Evans Taste Garden makes getting your 5 per day fruit and vegie servings easy. The garden includes a destination green house arrived at via a brick pathway with rows upon rows of instensely planted food plants on either side. There are 50 types of vegies and the bright orange Dahlia Cheyenne at the back is a nod to Chris Evans hair colour! Designed by Jon Wheatley.
The Zoe Ball Listening Garden has a silent rhythm. While the sound of music is not heard, music does play beneath the ground and visitors can feel the sensation of music through their bodies. As the bass plays, the surface of the water in 3 long steel troughs of water respond with waves of patterns and the gravel below the water dances, creating its own beat. Visually the plants, troughs and pavers create their own rhythm for a garden that is definitely one of my favourites. Designed by James Alexander-Sinclair.
The Jeremy Vine Texture Garden is designed to be looked at, listened to and most of all – touched. The polished concrete wall is designed to run our left hand over it while it leads you to a sunkin seating area of round stone seats and framed with spiky Pinus mugo. The concrete wall itself offers the contrast of vertical moss ball sections in geometric voids. Designed by Matt Keightley
The Jo Whiley Scent Garden began long before the installation. A call out was put on social media for people to send in their favourite scent memories and a selection of the responses are inscribed along the top edge of the concrete wall that begins at the sitting area and wraps around to garden before arriving back on the other side of the sitting area. Aside from the written scent memories, the garden is filled with the aromas of the actual plants, chosen specifically for their olfactory appeal. Designed by Tamara Bridge and Kate Savill with the help of fragrance designer Jo Malone.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - Show Gardens
The Welcome to Yorkshire Garden represents the Yorkshire coastline and it showcases a ruined abbey tucked into the trees, a paint peeling row boat on the beach and bobbing buoys in the water. If you look closely you will see that the doorway of the abby features a trompe l’oeil mural painted by Julie Cope that links the coast to the farming community beyond. Designed by Tracy Foster.
Silk Road Garden, Chengdu, China is as much a graphic tale as it is a garden. A spine of red blades, representing the Sichuan Province mountains surrounds a central, hidden courtyard with artistic representations of the 3,000 year old sun and immortal bird legend of Chengdu. There is also a silk road path that runs the length of the garden honouring the legacy of the historic trade route and the Su-Embroidery of the Chengdu masters. Designed by Laurie Chetwood and Patrick Collins.
500 Years of Covent Garden; The Sir Simon Milton Foundation Garden in partnership with Capco garden illustrates the original apple garden at Covent Garden (there are three 30-yr-old trees planted in the corners from the original orchard) to the busy shopping destination it is today represented by the architectural details and use of granite cobbles that are the same as those used in the current day garden. Designed by Lee Bestall.
The Morgan Stanley Garden was inspired by fractal geometry and natures patterns as well as music, art and communities. There is a woodland area, a central oak loggia and a sun filled terrace. Abstract sculptures are strategically placed through out the garden and are complimented by sculpted evergreens. Designed by Chris Beardshaw.
The M&G Garden was inspired by an abandoned Maltese quarry. Filled with large blocks of limestone that rise up in a repetitive punctuation, the garden is divided into a series of zones, each with its own ecology. The message of the garden is to preserve nature by recycling, composting and sustainable water disposal. Designed by James Basson.
The Linklaters Garden for Maggie’s is a secluded garden space designed specifically for cancer sufferers to feel at peace. The sitting area – both bench and platform - is a cuboid of broken concrete reformed to create something better and more beautiful then it was before. This abstract representation demonstrates how life can be put back together after it has been blown apart from a cancer diagnosis. Designed by Darren Hawkes.
Royal Bank of Canada Garden celebrates Canada’s 150th anniversary by representing such Canadiana as a boreal jack pine forest, damp woodland plantings, glacial boulders and a hunting shelter. This garden is also designed and created by an all female design team including architects, detailers and horticulturists. Designed by Charlotte Harris.
Breaking Ground Garden highlights Wellilngton College\s ambition to break down barriers via education. It creates an abstract representation of neuron and synaptic connectivity and references education and learning. This is done by trains of thought gently influenced by form and pattern. Designed by Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - Fresh Gardens
The Bermuda Triangle takes a single specimen palm tree and uses it to punctuate the surrounding installation of 3D triangular aluminum sheeting which just so happens to have its own interior low plantings visible through the clear sections. The top of the palm represents the shooting lava from the volcanic landscape of Bermuda. Layered into the design is the surrounding reflective Perspex sheet that represents the “where exactly is the Bermuda Triangle” mystery. Designed by Jack Dunckley.
Mind Trap sponsored by id verde is a garden inspired and designed from personal experience of depression and its sole purpose is to help those who suffer similarly while at the same letting them know they are not alone. The main feature are four metal walls that represent both a sense of security and a feeling of imprisonment. For this reason, the plantings on the inside and outside of the garden are completely different. Designed by Ian Price.
The Breast Cancer Now Garden; Through the Microscope is a journey through the microscope from the blurred beginnings to the sharp, enlarged image of cells. The cells at the end of this story are all healthy, something we all hope we have while the cells at the beginning of the journey are jagged rocks that represent breast cancer. The planting scheme continues the story with small and medium foliage at the front and larger foliage at the back. Designed by Ruth Willmott.
City Living is an imagined space within an urban apartment block. The garden is set within 3 different levels of the structure and large foliage bursts forth from the glaze free windows, vertical plantings and terraces exposed to the sky There is a water feature, communal seating and structural planting that creates a sense of tranquility. Designed by Kate Gould.
Inland Homes; Beneath a Mexican Sky is a colourful drought tolerant garden inspired by the Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragan. The colourful walls provide an interesting contrast to the concrete slabs that float across a large aquamarine pool and the copper wire sculpture by Rupert Till (which captures Luis Barragan’s love of horses). Designed by Manoj Malde.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017 - GGB Garden
Greening Grey Britain Garden was designed to be a living encyclopedia of solutions that bring horticulture to either private or communal urban environments using sustainable garden and landscape design. Key elements include ideas for growing plants, bin and bike storage, water sensitive design, rain garden ideas, and edible plant choices. The GGB garden also features the RHS Chelsea flower show’s first example of street art and cost biodiverse living wall system. Designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett.
To find out who the builders where and to see more pics of each garden go to
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