I always look forward to seeing the finalists in the annual Young Designer competition at the RHS Tatton Park Flower Show. This is a detail of Charlie Hartigan’s 1 in 10 garden, voted the People’s Choice for the Best Large Garden. I loved the colour combination and the abundance of traditional cottage garden plants in a contemporary space.
Planting a strip of flowers at ground level below a single step that constrained the main planting area struck me as a simple way to manage an incline and add interest to a flower border. The cream paint highlighted the terraced effect and accentuated the wavy lines of Salvia nemerosa flowers. Other plants included erigeron, allium, lavender, artemesia, scabious and eryngium.
Garden designs often require larger dimensions than British houses are blessed with, but this aspect of the design was a great way to show how much can be packed in to a sliver of land. While we may lack the room, climate or privacy for an outdoor bath (check out this link to the RHS website), many of us could plant up a few square metres of land along these lines and be all the happier for it.
One of the ideas behind the design of this sensory healing garden was to help raise awareness for the estimated 1 in 10 women with endometriosis and to highlight the difficulties many face getting a diagnosis.
Susan Rushton 
I love the color scheme here, as well as the idea of planting small pocket gardens for the sheer pleasure of adding beauty to a landscape.
An example of where gilding the lily actually works.
Beautiful…..it is a show I keep thinking of visiting but never get organised. I must though as clearly lovely and probably much much quieter than their others.
I’m sure you’ll like it Becky. All of the shows have their different characters and highlights. I usually make a beeline for the young designers and the school gardens at RHS Tatton – I salute anything that encourages youngsters to get involved in gardening and having kids around injects a sense of fun.
I love the wavy salvia.
It creates a painterly sense of movement.
Love the colors and plant choices.
It takes a little more effort to plant in this way, but it’s worth it.
Just my colours! Plenty of inspiration there.
Thanks – I thought so too!
Such an eye-stopper; beautiful to see. Very regal colors.
I’m glad you liked it.