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RHS Chelsea Flower Show PR

Zoe Claymore credit clivenichols.com

Discover the Devon roots behind RHS Chelsea’s British Rainforest Garden – and help raise funds for Stone Lane Gardens

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Award-winning garden designer Zoe Claymore is hosting a special fundraising talk this October in support of Devon’s Stone Lane Gardens.

Zoe’s British Rainforest Garden, created for The Wildlife Trusts, sponsored by grant-giving charity Project Giving Back and supported by insurer Aviva, wowed visitors at RHS Chelsea this May, winning the coveted People’s Choice Award. She will be sharing the inspiration behind the design, revealing how Devon’s lush, rain-fed woodlands and her own family heritage shaped the look and feel of the garden.

The event takes place on Saturday 11 October at Endecott House, Chagford, just a short distance from Stone Lane Gardens, the botanic garden co-founded by Zoe’s great uncle, Kenneth Ashburner. The gardens, which used to be known as the Mythic Garden, are home to the National Collection of Birch and Alder trees, some of which featured in Zoe’s Chelsea design.

British Rainforest Garden credit Clive Nicholls

In her talk, Zoe will explore how themes of heritage, landscape and sustainability came together in her rainforest garden, and she will offer practical advice for recreating elements of the design at home, including how to use birches from Stone Lane Gardens to achieve the look.

The talk will last around 45 minutes, followed by a Q&A. Tickets are £10 (advance) and £12 (on the door), information via the Stone Lane Gardens website, with all proceeds going to support Stone Lane Gardens. Attendees will also have the chance to enter a raffle to win a one-to-one design consultation with Zoe.

Event details: The Story Behind the Rainforest Garden at Chelsea
Date: Saturday 11 October
Time: 7pm
Venue: Endecott House, Chagford, Devon TQ13 8AJ
Tickets: Advance £10; £12 on the door

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For further information contact Emma Mason emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433

Zoe Claymore is a garden and landscape designer based in southwest London but works across the UK. From her studio, she crafts bespoke outdoor places that resonate emotionally with her clients – while staying mindful of environmental responsibility. Named RHS Horticultural Hero 2023, a triple award-winner at RHS Hampton Court, and double Chelsea winner, she draws on personal, cultural, environmental, and artistic inspirations to shape her designs. A regular media contributor and public speaker, Zoe advocates for innovative, sustainable, and deeply personal landscaping solutions that stand the test of time. www.zoeclaymore.com

Stone Lane Gardens was the creation of Kenneth and June Ashburner, the owners of the grade 2* listed Stone Farm. Kenneth was an avid traveller and plant finder and in the early 1970s began planting the trees he had grown from seeds gathered on his travels and from other botanic gardens. Gradually the garden expanded as the Ashburners bought land, until it took the shape it is today. Originally called the Mythic Garden they started an annual summer sculpture exhibition, which this year is again curated by South West Sculptors showcasing the best outdoor art from West Country artists. Plant Heritage awarded the gardens its ‘National Collection’ status in recognition of the importance of the diversity and rarity of its trees, and ‘Scientific Status’ in acknowledgement of the great work Kenneth Ashburner had done to extend and promote knowledge of the species, work that continues today under the stewardship of Garden Manager, Paul Bartlett. In 2019 Stone Lane Gardens became an RHS Partner Garden and in 2024, Stone Lane Gardens proudly became an accredited BGCI Botanic Garden, an internationally recognised, very prestigious and unique world-wide accolade bestowed by the BGCI at Kew, London. https://stonelanegardens.com

The Wildlife Trusts British Rainforest Garden, sponsored by Project Giving Back (PGB) and supported by the UK’s leading insurer Aviva, was awarded a Silver Gilt and People’s Choice medals at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025. It aimed to inspire people to support the restoration of this threatened habitat and show how nature-friendly gardening can help British wildlife thrive. The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva have been working together since 2023 on a mission to bring rainforests back to the British Isles. The British Rainforest Garden told the story of this precious habitat that once blanketed a fifth of the country but now only covers about 1% of the land – and the work underway to recover it.

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It’s GOLD! Newby Hall awarded the top medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show for its first ever plant exhibit

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Newby Hall has won a prestigious gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (20-24 May) for a North Yorkshire-inspired plant display – its first ever at the world’s most famous horticultural event.

The woodland-themed display highlighting some of the most eye-catching and unusual varieties of Cornus, a nod to Newby Hall’s renowned National Plant Collection of Cornus, was given the top award by RHS judges.

These beautiful flowering dogwood trees and shrubs boast colourful ‘flowers’ in April, May and June. The RHS Chelsea display had been carefully designed by Newby Hall’s head gardener, Lawrence Wright, in collaboration with owners Richard and Lucinda Compton, who now curate the collection.

Lawrence Wright (pictured with Lucinda Compton) said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have won a gold at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. To be judged as being amongst the best of the best in the horticultural world is incredible, putting Newby Hall’s plant collection firmly on the national and international map. Thank you to all of our team for their hard work in helping us prepare for this. We are now really looking forward to showing the thousands of show visitors the wonder of these beautiful plants and encouraging them to visit Newby Hall in person.”

Newby Hall’s exhibit forms a key part of Plant Heritage’s display within the Floral Marquee (stand GPB 020) at RHS Chelsea, which celebrates the beauty of the National Plant Collections. It was officially opened by broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh who is president of Plant Heritage which champions and conserves garden plants.

Newby Hall’s Cornus collection is one of the UK’s most extensive, comprising over 100 individual specimens, 48 cultivars and 25 species. It was originally started in 1990 by Robin Compton, a passionate horticulturist and former president of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens – now known as Plant Heritage. The very first Cornus kousa was planted by his father, Major Edward Compton, in 1937, sparking a passion that would eventually grow into this nationally recognised collection.

Richard and Lucinda’s daughter, Sasha Compton, who is an established artist and designer, has been painting the Cornus display at the show, whilst Jake Sutcliffe Garden Design Studio helped build the display.

Newby Hall’s famous gardens are a jewel of the Yorkshire countryside, frequently featured in television productions such as Peaky Blinders and Victoria. The garden boasts 14 stunning ‘rooms’, two heritage orchards, and one of the UK’s longest double herbaceous borders. Other highlights include a Rose Garden at its fragrant peak in June, an Autumn Garden filled with Dahlias and over 80 different varieties of Salvia, and an Edwardian Rock Garden nearing the end of major restoration which is due to be complete in spring 2026.

This September, Newby Hall will also host the popular Harrogate Autumn Flower Show from 19–21 September. Newby Hall & Gardens are open to the public from April to September, welcoming over 120,000 visitors annually. With its rich history, award-winning gardens, and vibrant programme of events, Newby continues to inspire gardeners and plant lovers from around the world.

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For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Alex Mcdonnell  Alex.Mcdonnell@newbyhall.com 01423 320412

newbyhall.com Twitter – @newbyhall Facebook – newbyhallandgardens Instagram – @newbyhallandgardens

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

  • Newby Hall is a William and Mary house built in the 1690s under the guidance of Christopher Wren and remodelled by John Carr with interiors by Robert Adam and furniture by Chippendale.
  • Located between Ripon and Boroughbridge, Newby has been home to the Compton family for ten generations.
  • The gardens span 25 acres of formal planting with an additional 15 acres of orchards and woodland, maintained by a team of seven gardeners and volunteers.
  • Newby is situated close to the A1(M) and near the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks.

 

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Local people with rare forms of dementia to benefit from award-winning show garden now open to visitors at Exbury Gardens in Hampshire

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•    Free access for local Rare Dementia Support members, funds being raised on the garden for The National Brain Appeal, who fund the service

A triple award-winning show garden, which will benefit local people diagnosed with rare dementias and their families, has been officially opened at Exbury Gardens.

The National Brain Appeal’s  beautiful ‘Rare Space’ garden, designed by Charlie Hawkes (pictured below) and now sited opposite the Five Arrows Gallery at the famous New Forest visitor attraction, was opened by Helena Clarke who lives with the condition posterior cortical atrophy (PCA). Also at the launch was Peter Jones from Fareham who has been diagnosed too with PCA. This affects the area of the brain that deals with visual processing.

Designer Charlie Hawkes on the Rare Space Garden at Exbury Gardens – photo credit Cathryn Baldock

Local families who are members of Rare Dementia Support are being given free access to the garden at Exbury. A digital donation point at the garden allows money to be raised for The National Brain Appeal, which funds the service; and information boards and leaflets give more details about rare dementias and advice on how to seek support. Staff at Exbury Gardens have also undertaken dementia awareness training.

The Project Giving Back-funded Rare Space Garden won three awards at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, including a gold, and is designed for those living with rare dementias, particularly visual and spacial forms of the disease. It will eventually be located at the world’s first Rare DementiaSupport Centre in London but, whilst The National Brain Appeal raises the estimated £7m needed to create this Centre – expected to open in 2024/25 – the garden has been temporarily located in Hampshire for Exbury’s visitors to enjoy, and to raise awareness of these life-changing neurological conditions, which are often misdiagnosed.

RDS supports people living with seven forms of rare dementia; these can strike at a young age, may be directly inherited, and often affect skills other than memory, such as vision, language, behaviour and movement. It is thought that around 47,000-142,000 people in the UK are living with a less common form of dementia but reliable statistics are hard to find due to frequent misdiagnoses. The new Centre will be a state-of-the-art home for the service, bringing people affected by these conditions together with experienced healthcare professionals.

Following diagnosis, many find that existing health, social and voluntary services do not cater adequately for their individual needs, and established dementia support groups are not particularly relevant to their situation. Members of these groups can often be significantly different to them in terms of age, life situation and symptoms. 30% of people living with a rare dementia initially receive an incorrect diagnosis and there is a widespread lack of understanding and a shortage of dedicated resources to support those affected.

Theresa Dauncey, chief executive of The National Brain Appeal, said: “It is wonderful to see The National Brain Appeal’s Rare Space Garden in its new home at Exbury Gardens and looking as splendid as it did at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. We are incredibly grateful to Marcus Agius and everyone at Exbury Gardens for hosting our garden, giving so many more people the opportunity to see it and to learn more about rare dementias, and, of course, to Project Giving Back for making all of this possible.”

Exbury Gardens’ chairman Marcus Agius said: “One of the purposes of the Rare Dementia Support Centre will be to educate people about these unusual conditions, not just sufferers and their families and carers, but also members of the medical profession. As such, the Rare Space Garden fits well with the educational objects of the Exbury Gardens charitable trust. We are simply delighted to be hosting it until the new centre is built.”

The Rare Space Garden was created with the input and collaboration of those affected by visual-led dementias, and was designed as a space to foster autonomy and hope. It offers a balance between exploration and calm navigation. Subtly coloured planting has been chosen to minimise sensory disruption. A level, wide path weaves simply through the garden, offering brightly coloured, easily found seating areas and sheltered spaces along the way, for independent wayfinding. Interpretation boards outline the significance of key features within the space and explain how those with rare dementias and their families can seek support.

Helena Clarke officially opens the Rare Space Garden with husband David (centre front). Back from left to right – Hattie Ghaui (Project Giving Back), Professor Nick Fox (Rare Dementia Support), Theresa Dauncey (The National Brain Appeal), Charlie Hawkes (designer) and Marcus Agius (Exbury Gardens). Photo credit © Britt Willoughby Dyer

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For further information or images, contact PR Emma Mason on 07762 117433 emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk or Veronica Chrisp on 023 8024 5754 veronica.chrisp@exbury.co.uk

The National Brain Appeal – PR Manager, Marie Mangan – 07812 124092 marie.mangan@nhs.net

Notes for editors

  • Exbury Gardens, spread over 200 acres, is a calm and beautiful oasis with tranquil ponds surrounded by rare plants, trees and shrubs. It was created by Lionel de Rothschild in 1919, a passionate collector of plants and a keen supporter and sponsor of the early 20th century plant hunters, and has grown to become a stunning garden paradise. It boasts over 20 miles of pathways and trails and is located in the New Forest about 15 minutes from the M27. Over recent years the Hampshire garden, famed for its spring colour, has been expanded for all-season interest with areas designed to show off summer and autumn blooms, as well as an extension of its 1 ½-mile Rhododendron Line steam railway. Exbury Gardens, located in the New Forest near Southampton, is open daily 10am – 5.30pm. Arrival time slots must be booked online in advance at www.exbury.co.uk
  • About The National Brain Appeal (registered charity number 290173) – Dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by neurological conditions, The National Brain Appeal funds pioneering research, innovative treatments and world-class facilities at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the UCL Institute of Neurology in Queen Square, London. The hospital is the UK’s leading centre of excellence for treating diseases of the brain, spine and the nervous system − such as brain tumours, epilepsy, stroke, dementias, MS, Parkinson’s disease and motor neurone disease. nationalbrainappeal.org

The charity funds Rare Dementia Support (RDS), a service that provides information, advice and support to people and their families living with raredementias and is currently fundraising for the world’s first Rare Dementia Support Centre, part of the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, to provide guidance, support and education, as well as being a space for research, artistic and cultural activities. raredementiasupport.org

  • Charlie Hawkes is an award-winning landscape designer based in the UK who won a gold medal at the 2022 Chelsea Flower Show for his Wilderness Foundation UK Garden, as well as a gold at the 2023 show. He has a master’s in landscape architecture from the Edinburgh College of Art. His experience includes working in Japan at Dan Pearson’s Tokachi Millennium Forest, an estate placement at the iconic Lutyens-build house, Great Dixter and a season working at luxury hotel, Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. As a result of his knowledge of design and gardening, he strives to create places that have an atmosphere that reflects the unique nature of each landscape.
  • Project Giving Back (PGB) is a unique grant-making charity that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating effect on UK charitable fundraising. PGB has funded a total of 15 gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023 and intends to fund up to 42 gardens at the show from 2022 – 2024. It was established with funding from two private individuals who are RHS Life Members and keen gardeners. They wish to remain anonymous. PGB will help UK-based good causes recover from the unprecedented effects of the global pandemic by giving them an opportunity to raise awareness of their work for people, plants and the planet at the high-profile RHS Chelsea Flower Show. www.givingback.org.uk

 

 

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The RSPCA Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show: a call for UK gardeners to help stop wildlife decline

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‘We owe it to our children to ensure they still get to enjoy British wildlife,’ says Steve Backshall

The RSPCA is teaming up at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with award-winning designer, Martyn Wilson, to create a stylish sanctuary for wildlife and people alike – and it has a very important ‘take-home’ message.

The RSPCA Garden designed by Martyn Wilson

A contemporary interpretation of a wildlife garden, The RSPCA Garden highlights the public’s vital role in protecting wild animals and birds. As well as looking beautiful, it is packed with ideas you can easily recreate at home, whatever space you have, and is designed to challenge the view that wildlife gardens are untidy or unfashionable.

RSPCA vice president Steve Backshall said we owe it to future generations to take action now.

The TV wildlife host said: “We owe it to our children to ensure they still get to enjoy British wildlife like previous generations before them. But the rapid decline of some of our most loved species like hedgehogs, red squirrels and some butterflies means some of our favourite British animals may soon only exist in zoos. This is terrifying, and should spur every single one of us into taking action.

“We are reaching a critical turning point but we can take positive actions now to help create the future we want for our children, our wildlife and our planet.

“Everyone can join the RSPCA to be a Wildlife Friend volunteer, picking up litter to prevent an animal getting injured, putting down a saucer of water for thirsty birds or making a simple bug hotel to give bees somewhere to rest.

“These tiny acts of kindness can collectively make a huge difference for the wildlife we share our communities with, and which we rely on for our survival.”

The RSPCA is hoping the Chelsea project inspires people to carry out small acts of kindness for wildlife they share their neighbourhoods with, as part of their Wildlife Friends scheme.

A raised wildlife-watching ‘hide’ made from UK-grown Douglas fir and larch, with a green roof and wall-mounted bee hotels, is designed to be a refuge in nature for an RSPCA volunteer after a busy shift. Elsewhere in the garden, natural stone feature walls house contemporary bird nesting boxes; while a modern corten steel interpretation of a ‘dead hedge‘, with hidden hedgehog houses, creates habitats for birds, mammals and insects, whilst also recycling garden materials.

A central water feature formed from recycled plastic waste is a nod to the RSPCA rescuing almost 4,000 animals trapped in or injured by litter last year (2022). Providing movement, sound and a drink for wildlife, it symbolises the rescue-rehabilitate-release cycle of care given to thousands of animals at the charity’s four specialist wildlife centres.

Enclosed by hedging and a canopy of native trees and shrubs vital for birds and wildlife, planting is in a multi-layered naturalistic style in shades of green, whites and tones of blue with pollinator-friendly plants. A bronze sculpture of two otters, by Simon Gudgeon, is inspired by otters in the charity’s care.

The project is being generously funded by Project Giving Back, and the garden will be relocated at the end of the event to RSPCA Stapeley Grange, the charity’s wildlife rehabilitation and education centre in Cheshire, in time for the charity’s 200th anniversary celebrations in 2024.

It will continue to provide sanctuary for wildlife, but also for visitors – including young people, families and vulnerable adults, who already visit the centre for support with emotional wellbeing and resilience. The space will bring essential animal welfare education to communities who have fewer opportunities to get out and about in nature.

There are about 23 million gardens in the UK. The area of all the gardens in England together is more than four times the amount of land in nature reserves*, so gardens are the secret weapon in saving our much-loved British wildlife from this devastating decline.

Filming on The RSPCA Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Designer Martyn visited an RSPCA specialist wildlife centre and took inspiration from its dedicated rehabilitation work in the design of his garden. He said: “The RSPCA Garden is modern and stylish and shows that wildlife gardens don’t necessarily have to be untidy. I really hope people will be inspired to create their own wildlife sanctuary at home.”

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 Notes to editors:

Media Contacts:

Catherine Peerless, RSPCA head of media 07817 550270 catherine.peerless@rspca.org.uk

Lucy Cooper, RSPCA national press officer 07990 717074 lucy.cooper@rspca.org.uk

Emma Mason, Emma Mason PR (for Wilson Associates Garden Design) 07762 117433 emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk

 

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Every school should have a garden…. School Food Matters Garden takes its mission to RHS Chelsea Flower Show

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  • School gardens a vital resource for child mental health and wellbeing
  • New charity survey shows children want more ‘green time’ and less ‘screen time’, and more than one in three children have never seen fruit or vegetables growing
  • The climate resilient ‘edimentals’ garden will be relocated to two primary schools after the show

 

School Food Matters, the charity which teaches children about food and campaigns for healthy, sustainable school meals, is partnering with designer Harry Holding to create an edible, climate resilient garden, with children at its heart, for RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.

Raising vital questions about healthy eating and the future of food production in a changing climate, the garden highlights why children need to be represented in these discussions. At the end of show week, The School Food Matters Garden will continue to provide social and environmental benefits when it is repurposed to create two pocket gardens – one at a school in London, the other at a school in Liverpool – for children to nurture and enjoy for years to come.

The School Food Matters Garden is in the All About Plants category (GPB019 in The Pavilion) at the world-famous event and is being funded by Project Giving Back, with support from Whole Kids Foundation. It will celebrate 15 years of School Food Matters food education programmes which have reached over 211,000 children across the UK.

The charity’s experience working in schools echoes the findings of educators, child health, and nutrition experts, that time spent in nature brings multiple benefits.  A recent survey carried out by the charity gives a child’s perspective. Attracting over 500 responses, the survey revealed that more than half the children (primary and secondary) wanted time out in nature as a reward at school, rather than more time spent at a computer screen.  Two in three students felt they didn’t get enough time out in nature, and wanted more, while more than a third (37%) had never seen fruit or vegetables growing.

Designed as an immersive, forageable and naturalistic landscape, the School Food Matters Garden entices children to explore, inspiring them with a variety of edible, climate resilient plants along the way. The aim is to stimulate their senses and encourage them to learn about food in nature, with over 80% of the planting being edible.

A pomegranate tree represents nature’s bounty; wild strawberries, asparagus, artichokes, and herbs are nods to more traditional produce, whilst king’s spear, sea kale and dame’s rocket highlight more unusual edible plants.  The child-sized paths lead to a central area, featuring tactile rammed earth walls that are beautifully painted with quotes from pupils at the London and Liverpool schools – a place to air how much nature means to them. Most of the planting in the School Food Matters Garden is drought tolerant and resilient for a changing climate. Contrastingly, a natural ‘seasonally wet’ pool shows the realities of British winters and highlights the need to plant appropriately.

School Food Matters Chief Executive Stephanie Slater said: “Nutritious food, a healthy planet and access to nature are fundamental rights every child should enjoy. The School Food Matters Garden celebrates all the pleasure, and physical and mental health benefits children get from time spent in nature. It echoes our mission to give every child the knowledge and understanding they need to feed themselves and their future families, while caring for the planet.

“We’ve helped hundreds of schools across the UK create beautiful gardens and the impact this has cannot be underestimated. Many children do not have gardens at home, have no understanding of where food comes from and little opportunity to connect with fresh food by growing their own fruit and veg. Spending time in a garden, getting muddy and seeing how plants grow has a remarkable impact on self-confidence, as well as an inclination to eat more fruit and veg. For some it provides a much-needed moment of peace away from the noise and pressures of the classroom. With the generous support of partners and funders we can ensure many more children have this experience.”

Harry Holding, director of Harry Holding Studio, said: “Our School Food Matters Garden moves far away from plastic wrapped vegetables to show children just how much nature can provide and that there is real joy and beauty in growing your own food. It’s also mindful of our changing climate and the future impact that will have on children, an important message for us all.”

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Notes to Editors

  • For information on the charity or images contact the School Food Matters media team: Charlotte Borger press@schoolfoodmatters.org 07973 394970.  Follow #OurEdibleClassroom on social media.
    For Harry Holding or detail on the garden design please contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433
  • School Food Matters (SFM) exists to teach children about food and campaigns for healthy, sustainable school meals. The charity provides fully funded food education programmes to schools and uses its 15 years’ experience delivering these programmes to inform and strengthen its campaigns, bringing the voices of children, parents and teachers to government policy.
  • Harry Holding is a multi-award-winning designer whose design practice Harry Holding Studio, has sustainability and resilience at the core of everything they do. All the way from innovative design concepts to aftercare practices they aim to minimise environmental impact and carbon footprint. Sourcing materials locally and designing resilient plant communities to create rich, biodiverse ecosystems, their gardens are designed to last and enhance the lives of their clients and the natural world. Find out more here.
  • Project Giving Back(PGB) is a unique grant-making scheme that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on UK charitable fundraising. It will fund gardens inspired by a range of good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2022, 2023 and 2024. PGB will fund 15 gardens at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023. In total, PGB plans to fund 42 gardens at the show from 2022 – 2024. (Applications for 2022 and 2023 are now closed.)
  • Whole Kids Foundation: Whole Kids Foundation (WKF) is a charitable organisation based in Austin Texas that provides children with access to healthy food through partnerships with schools, educators and charities. It was set up in 2011 by Whole Foods Market, the organic and natural food retailer, to help address the growing health problems relating to bad nutrition amongst young people.

 

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The bog wins GOLD! Top award at RHS Chelsea for peatland display showing gardeners how to protect landscapes by switching to peat-free composts

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An immersive display boasting a real piece of ‘borrowed’ Cumbrian peatbog to highlight the critical importance of UK peatlands to our climate, and urging gardeners to ditch using peat, has won a gold medal at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The unique exhibit is designed by the Eden Project and presented in partnership with peat-free compost maker Dalefoot Composts and uses a little piece of Cumbrian peatland on loan under special license from Natural England.

In the Discovery Zone display at the show, gardeners are invited ‘to step into’  Bolton Fell Moss National Nature Reserve (NNR), a restored Cumbrian bog previously used to harvest peat for horticulture, to experience the secrets, sounds and beauty of these enormous bog gardens.

They can hear sounds from a peatland – curlews, lapwing, the hum of billions of insects and the occasional squelch – whilst getting up close to the fascinating bog plants – sphagnum mosses, cotton grass, cranberries, and heathers. The peatland display is being given expert care whilst at the show to make sure it remains hydrated and will be returned to its natural home once Chelsea has finished.

The aim of the exhibit is to demonstrate the importance of peat bogs and the environmental damage gardeners are causing to our planet by using peat compost in their outdoor spaces.

Alongside the peatland, a bountiful potager of vegetables and companion planting grown by gold-medal-winning Pennard Plants, illustrates what gardeners can achieve in their own plot by switching to peat-free gardening. All of these plants have been grown in Dalefoot Compost’s peat-free products which are Soil Association-approved for organic growing.

Professor Jane Barker is the co-founder of Dalefoot Composts which is a major manufacturer of peat-free compost and a leading restorer of damaged peatlands, including the Bolton Fell Moss NNR site in Cumbria. She said: “We’re absolutely thrilled by this award and so pleased that peat-free gardening is being recognised in this way. I hope people visiting our special piece of Cumbrian peatland will come away understanding why using peat is no longer acceptable, and how easy it is to make simple climate friendly switches in your garden.”

Tracey Smith, Eden’s Commercial Manager, said: “We’re delighted to have received this gold medal – thank you to the judges and everyone who has visited the stand for their enthusiasm and kind comments!

“It’s really exciting for Eden to be back at the Chelsea Flower Show with a stand that highlights the huge importance of peat bogs and we hope that visitors will come away with a greater understanding and appreciation for these vital habitats. Working alongside our friends at Dalefoot, our aim with this stand was to change people’s perceptions of peat bogs, showing that they are thriving environments, rich with biodiversity as well as being crucial for carbon sequestration. We’d urge all gardeners to make the switch to peat-free products – it’s the best decision for your garden and for the environment.”

The timeline of a bog is illustrated in the RHS Chelsea exhibit to show the thousands of years peat represents. Peat grows at only 1mm per year and this is contrasted to the bags of peat compost it yields and the short season of growth that peat gives gardeners.

Peatlands only occupy about 3% of the Earth’s land surface but are the largest terrestrial carbon store on the planet. UK peatlands cover around 12% of its land area and store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, more than twice that of the UK’s forests*, as well as being very important habitats for biodiversity.

Whilst the Government has set targets for peatland restoration and is currently consulting on a peat ‘ban’, in amateur gardening there remains a significant resistance to switching to peat-free and it is predicted even more peat could be used in the future. Of the 5.44 million cubic metres of growing media used in 2020, 79% was used by amateur gardeners. Two-thirds of peat sold in the UK is from Europe, meaning we are effectively exporting our carbon footprint. Voluntary targets set for peat sellers have had little impact and the new target of ending peat sales by 2024 is being questioned for being too slow and not enough.

This is the latest initiative by Dalefoot Composts and the Eden Project to promote the sustainability benefits of peat-free gardening. Dalefoot’s Wool Compost for Potting is endorsed by the world-renowned environmental charity and social enterprise, and the two organisations have plans to work together on other future initiatives.

Dalefoot is supporting six show gardens and exhibits at RHS Chelsea with its peat-free compost – The New Blue Peter Garden: Discover Soil by Juliet Sargeant; Brewin Dolphin Garden by Paul Hervey-Brookes; The Mothers for Mothers – This Too Shall Pass Garden by Pollyanna Wilkinson; The Wild Kitchen Garden by Ann Treneman; RHS Queen’s Jubilee Photographic Exhibit by Dave Green, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency – Don’t Risk It! exhibit.

Two of the company’s peat-free composts were also finalists in the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2022 – Wool Compost for Potting and Wool Compost Double Strength.

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Stand GPA 105 in the Discovery Zone of the Great Pavilion – Stand AR 545 for Dalefoot Compost

Picture caption – Bevis Hughes (Eden Project), Simon Bland (co-founder Dalefoot Composts) and Tracey Smith (Eden Project) with the gold award

For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Ben Foster, Media and Engagement Manager, bfoster@EdenProject.com  For more info, go to www.edenproject.com

Bolton Fell Moss is a lowland raised bog damaged through commercial extraction of peat but has since begun a journey of restoration thanks to an ongoing project by Natural England. Extraction ended in 2013 but left a vast expanse of dry, bare peat where limited wildlife could survive. Restoration work has raised the water levels; bog vegetation was then introduced but it will take time for the sphagnum mosses to cover the bare peat and for other bog plants to return. It could take up to 30 years for the bog to fully recover.

Dalefoot’s story – The entrepreneurial couple behind Dalefoot, environmental scientist Jane Barker and farmer Simon Bland, started making compost from the natural ingredients around their Cumbrian farm in 1997. Inspired by early 20th century gardening books that mentioned wool as a garden mulch, and a desire to make good use of the invasive bracken growing on the fells, the couple invented their secret compost recipe, bagged the product up themselves and started selling at local farmers’ markets. Twenty years later the compost is sold across the UK and the business employs 25 local people, and sources bracken and wool from farmers.

The Dalefoot team also restores peat bogs, some of which were once owned by peat compost companies, across the country for the likes of Natural England, NatureScot, South West Water and Wildlife Trusts. Peat bogs store more carbon than forests and many in the UK are now in poor condition, releasing carbon rather than storing it. Dalefoot works with these agencies to help reduce carbon release and return the bogs to functioning, healthy eco-systems. In 2022 Dalefoot announced a total of 3.8 million tonnes of carbon saved through their restoration projects.

The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £12.75 per bag down to £8.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also from a growing list of stockists.

Tel: 01931 713281   Email: sales@dalefootcomposts.co.uk

* IUCN

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The bog has landed! Peatland on display at RHS Chelsea to highlight how gardeners can protect landscapes by switching to peat-free composts

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Curlews, lapwing, the hum of billions of insects…. and the occasional squelch – the sounds of a peatland captured and to be heard over a little piece of Cumbrian peatland, on loan from Natural England, and installed in the Discovery Zone at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The critical importance of UK peatlands to our climate will be brought home to gardeners at the show in this unique exhibit by peat-free compost maker Dalefoot Composts and the Eden Project.

Under special license from Natural England, a slice of bog ‘borrowed’ from peatland previously harvested for horticulture will go on show to demonstrate the environmental damage gardeners are causing to our planet by using peat compost in their outdoor spaces.

In the immersive Discovery Zone display, gardeners will be invited ‘to step into’ the borrowed slice of National Nature Reserve (NNR) peatland from a restored Cumbrian bog to experience the secrets, sounds and beauty of these enormous bog gardens. The peatland display will be given expert care whilst at the show to make sure it remains hydrated and will be returned to its natural home once Chelsea has finished.

Alongside, a bountiful potager of vegetables and companion planting grown by gold-medal-winning Pennard Plants, will illustrate what gardeners can achieve in their own plot by switching to peat-free gardening. All of these plants have been grown in Dalefoot Compost’s peat-free products which are Soil Association-approved for organic growing.

Peatlands only occupy about 3% of the Earth’s land surface but are the largest terrestrial carbon store on the planet. UK peatlands cover around 12% of its land area and store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, more than twice that of the UK’s forests*, as well as being very important habitats for biodiversity.

Professor Jane Barker is the co-founder of Dalefoot Composts which is a major manufacturer of peat-free compost and a leading restorer of damaged peatlands, including the NNR site in Cumbria.

She said: “Up until now, the scientific understanding underpinning individual gardeners’ responsibility to climate change gardening has not been well communicated. We want to demonstrate how you can easily make a difference in your own garden by ditching the use of peat and switching to peat-free compost.

“The importance of peat and peatlands to our climate and the planet have also not been made clear or accessible for our gardeners, whilst trees have taken centre stage and are much easier to relate to. However, peat is hugely significant to our climate’s future.”

The timeline of a bog will be illustrated in the RHS Chelsea exhibit to show the thousands of years peat represents. Peat grows at only 1mm per year and this will be contrasted to the bags of peat compost it would yield and the short season of growth that peat might give gardeners.

Whilst the Government has set targets for peatland restoration and is currently consulting on a peat ‘ban’, in amateur gardening there remains a significant resistance to switching to peat-free and it is predicted even more peat could be used in the future. Of the 5.44 million cubic metres of growing media used in 2020, 79% was used by amateur gardeners. Two-thirds of peat sold in the UK is from Europe, meaning we are effectively exporting our carbon footprint. Voluntary targets set for peat sellers have had little impact and the new target of ending peat sales by 2024 is being questioned for being too slow and not enough.

This is the latest initiative by Dalefoot Composts and the Eden Project to promote the sustainability benefits of peat-free gardening. Dalefoot’s Wool Compost for Potting is endorsed by the world-renowned environmental charity and social enterprise, and the two organisations have plans to work together on other future initiatives.

Dalefoot will be supporting six show gardens and exhibits at RHS Chelsea with its peat-free compost

– The New Blue Peter Garden: Discover Soil by Juliet Sargeant; Brewin Dolphin Garden by Paul Hervey-Brookes; The Mothers for Mothers – This Too Shall Pass Garden by Pollyanna Wilkinson; The Wild Kitchen Garden by Ann Treneman; RHS Queen’s Jubilee Photographic Exhibit by Dave Green, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency – Don’t Risk It! exhibit.

Two of the company’s peat-free composts have also been shortlisted in the RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2022 – Wool Compost for Potting and Wool Compost Double Strength.

ENDS

Stand GPA 105 in the Discovery Zone of the Great Pavilion – Stand AR 545 for Dalefoot Compost

For further information contact Emma Mason on emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433 or Ben Foster, Media and Engagement Manager, bfoster@EdenProject.com  For more info, go to www.edenproject.com

Bolton Fell Moss is a lowland raised bog damaged through commercial extraction of peat but has since begun a journey of restoration thanks to an ongoing project by Natural England. Extraction ended in 2013 but left a vast expanse of dry, bare peat where limited wildlife could survive. Restoration work has raised the water levels; bog vegetation was then introduced but it will take time for the sphagnum mosses to cover the bare peat and for other bog plants to return. It could take up to 30 years for the bog to fully recover.

Dalefoot’s story – The entrepreneurial couple behind Dalefoot, environmental scientist Jane Barker and farmer Simon Bland, started making compost from the natural ingredients around their Cumbrian farm in 1997. Inspired by early 20th century gardening books that mentioned wool as a garden mulch, and a desire to make good use of the invasive bracken growing on the fells, the couple invented their secret compost recipe, bagged the product up themselves and started selling at local farmers’ markets. Twenty years later the compost is sold across the UK and the business employs 25 local people, and sources bracken and wool from farmers.

The Dalefoot team also restores peat bogs, some of which were once owned by peat compost companies, across the country for the likes of Natural England, NatureScot, South West Water and Wildlife Trusts. Peat bogs store more carbon than forests and many in the UK are now in poor condition, releasing carbon rather than storing it. Dalefoot works with these agencies to help reduce carbon release and return the bogs to functioning, healthy eco-systems. In 2022 Dalefoot announced a total of 3.8 million tonnes of carbon saved through their restoration projects.

The range is available online at www.dalefootcomposts.co.uk from £12.75 per bag down to £8.50 each for orders of 50 bags plus delivery, and also from a growing list of stockists. Tel: 01931 713281   Email: sales@dalefootcomposts.co.uk

* IUCN

RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden of hope for mothers to raise awareness of Covid’s devastating impact on perinatal mental health

RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden of hope for mothers to raise awareness of Covid’s devastating impact on perinatal mental health

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  • The Mothers for Mothers Garden: “This too shall pass” designed by Pollyanna Wilkinson for Mothers for Mothers charity in the new show garden category ‘All About Plants’ at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.
  • Design and planting to echo the road to recovery for mothers experiencingmental health  
  • Covid restrictions have had a drastic impact on pregnant women, birthing people and new parents with partners barred from appointments, anxiety in the workplace, isolation due to a lack of family/peer contact, changes in antenatal care and fewer face-to-face appointments.
  • Planting from the garden will be relocated to Hartcliffe City Farm in Bristol after the show, close to Mothers for Mothers’ base

The Mothers for Mothers Garden, for the namesake Bristol-based charity, is a symbolic plant-filled garden showing the mental health journey mothers take in pregnancy and early parenthood. It will raise awareness of perinatalmental illness, and the added pressures of Covid, at RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022.

 The garden will feature a cloister of bronze-toned walls and archways to represent how long days at home with a baby can feel either like a sanctuary or a cage.

A fractured pathway through the garden surrounded first by muted, restrained planting will gradually transition to a joyful, feminine palette depicting the road to recovery, supported along the way by other mothers with a similar lived experience. True to this new show garden category, 78% of the garden will be plants – showing the impact a small space can have (6x8m).

Designer Pollyanna Wilkinson, a former mental health counsellor and mother of two young children, said: “The expression ‘this too shall pass’ is a mantra passed between women navigating motherhood and the mental healthchallenges that often come with it. The garden is based on the idea of transition – from despair to hope.”

The global pandemic and associated restrictions have had a devasting impact on pregnant women, those giving birth and new mums. Seven in every ten women1 who were pregnant or who had given birth during COVID said they had increased stress and struggled with the ability to cope with pregnancy or baby. 70% of new parents said the lockdown was negatively affecting their baby, and only a third said they were confident in being able to access mental healthsupport.

The garden is funded by the Project Giving Back scheme and supports the vital work of the Bristol charity Mothers for Mothers set up 40 years ago to help mums survive perinatal illness by offering peer support, therapies and counselling, as well as providing assistance for dads and partners.

Maria Viner, the charity’s CEO, said: “The theme of our garden is hope and reassurance. We would like visitors to walk away seeing that it’s possible to find your way back to yourself. For women who are struggling with their mental healthand emotional wellbeing during pregnancy or after the birth of their baby there is support and understanding available. There are people who have lived through this experience and recovered who have been trained to support you and will walk alongside you on your journey to recovery. With the right help and support you will get better.

“For others we hope that the message of hope will translate across whatever their own personal circumstances may be – that if you can find the courage to reach out there are often others who understand and who have walked the same path who can offer companionship, support and compassion without judgment, until you too feel more hopeful about your future.”

During the show, Mothers for Mothers plans to host campaign and fundraising events supported by CBRE and after the RHS Chelsea Flower Show plants from the garden will be relocated to Hartcliffe City Farm close to the charity’s Bristol base.

In terms of planting, the exuberant pink and apricot ruffled Iris ‘Wondrous’ will denote the colour returning to life; apricot Rosa ‘The Lark Ascending’ will provide a feminine and informal feel; tangerine tones of Verbascum‘Clementine’ will denote joy, and the pure blue hues of Anchusa azurea ‘Loddon Royalist’ will conversely symbolise low mood.

ENDS

For further information on the garden contact Pollyanna Wilkinson on polly@pollyannawilkinson.com 07534 506604 or Emma Mason emma@emmamasonpr.co.uk 07762 117433. For further information on Mothers for Mothers contact Maria.viner@mothersformothers.co.uk  07796 402667

1 The Fawcett Society

Pollyanna Wilkinson Garden Design: After a decade working in London in legal marketing, Polly retrained as a garden designer at the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden before setting up her namesake studio, based in Surrey.   She later studied Horticulture at Merrist Wood.  Prior to her career in Garden Design, Polly volunteered as a counsellor for several years, working in a variety of settings from schools, to bereavement charities and maternal mentalhealth clinics.  As both a mother and qualified counsellor, the Mothers for Mothers garden holds very significant meaning to her. Polly has previously created two other show gardens, both at Hampton Court Flower Show. In 2018 she earned a Silver Gilt for her garden focusing on the mental health impacts of social media (A very modern problem) and in 2019 she created a garden focusing on nature crafts, earning a Silver medal and People’s choice award. Polly’s design style is a mix of elegance and practicality. She works on all manner of gardens – from country estates to roof terraces across London and the South West.

Mothers for Mothers: Since 1981 Mothers for Mothers has supported families affected by maternal mental illness and emotional wellbeing needs across Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset and received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in their 40th year. They offer support to women and their families during pregnancy and until their youngest child attends school, from illness to wellness, through support services which include: Reach helpline/support calls, Home Visiting, Counselling, Antenatal wellbeing in pregnancy group and Peer Support Groups with a play support worker. The services are designed and delivered by women with lived experience of maternal mental illness.  Mothers for Mothers aim to achieve the following outcomes for the women and families they work with:

  • Improved confidence, resilience and relationships with children and family, leading to faster recovery.
  • Improving children’s emotional development by supporting mothers to be sensitive and responsive in their relationships with their children.
  • Reduced social isolation and improved social and support networks.
  • More awareness of maternalmental Health and the support available.
  • Improved care and services for maternalmental illness.