RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2015 - Living Landscapes H U G by Rae Wilkinson

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2015:
My Healing Urban Garden with Living Landscapes



I am delighted to be creating a show garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this year, for their 25th anniversary year. The garden will be built and sponsored by Living Landscapes, an award winning landscaping company based in Horsham, West Sussex.

For me, having designed and cared for gardens for many years, creating a show garden brings the opportunity to be creative in a more imaginative way.

The garden is entitled ‘H U G’ - an acronym for ‘Healing Urban Garden’. The design is based on the  idea that green space in an urban environment can be powerfully restorative. My intention is to create a place of escape and retreat, a sensory hug within a small and simple green space.

The colour scheme has been selected for calming qualities, whilst the planting palette is a largely herbal, evergreen and low maintenance combination of scented and textural foliage. Planting is my passion and will be key to the final effect.

Bold sculptural elements take the form of a curved sectional wall providing a sense of enclosure, and a large scale curved bleached oak bench.
The H U G bench is an important focal point and destination within the garden, designed in collaboration with award winning sculptor Alun Heslop of Chaircreative who will be making it. We have come up with this bench design specifically for the garden, to provide an organic and welcoming resting place, big enough to share with a companion - or to recline, and providing a sense of being held.

A curved path journeys into the space, flanked by sensory planters to create distraction and provide a decompression opportunity. Next to the bench is a large water bowl to bring a reflective water element, bringing the sky and the birds to the visitors side.


Our garden appears in the Summer Gardens category which is very popular and always well worth a visit for intriguing ideas.


Follow these links to find out more about the show, as well as those involved in the garden:

RHS show gardens 2015:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-hampton-court-palace-flower-show/2015/gardens-at-hampton-court-2015

Rae Wilkinson Design:

http://raewilkinson.com/

Living Landscapes:
http://livinglandscapesuk.com/

Alun Heslop:
http://www.chaircreative.net/

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