Up and trending

Health and community

The general themes of health and inclusion are once again to the fore, with several projects sponsored via the Project Giving Back scheme based on the management of, or recovery from, conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cancer and stroke, and featuring biophilic and therapeutic design elements. There are gardens concerned with HIV and skin diseases, as well as those designed for people who are grieving, and those with learning disabilities and/or autism.

More of the show gardens than ever are accessible, such as the Panathlon Joy Garden, which is the first wheelchair-accessible All About Plants garden to feature at Chelsea. Miria Harris’s and Ann-Marie Powell’s gardens also feature sloping paths rather than steps, with spaces and surfaces within considered in terms of ease of movement for wheelchair users. Many designs are based on the idea of a communal or public garden space where people can come together, including Robert Myers’ St James’s Piccadilly Garden, which will also feature a sculptural timber counselling cabin.

Beautiful boundaries

With sustainability becoming a central focus for this year’s show, and so many designers trying to go cement and concrete free, it’s not surprising that many of the designs highlight interesting materials, especially for boundaries and dividing features.

Natural materials abound, from the simple chestnut posts and hazel rods edging Tom Stuart-Smith’s National Garden Scheme (NGS) woodland garden to the bold, enveloping willow dividers in The Freedom from Torture Garden. A collaboration between John Warland and willow artist Tom Hare, they are intended to create informal spaces for therapy or relaxing in, helping the garden feel like a ‘horticultural hug’.

The rear of Dan Bristow’s Size of Wales garden boasts an 8m-long, compostable ‘fungus fence’ – highlighting the importance of fungi in the health of forests – made from woodland thinnings and inoculated with oyster and lion’s mane mushrooms.

Materials usually used in the