Author
Jonny Bruce
Writer
Most people attending this year’s Chelsea will struggle not to notice the abundance and progression of naturalistic plantings. Referring to his own design for the Telegraph Garden, Andy Sturgeon referred to it as “a captured landscape” and this same phrase could be adapted to more than a handful of other gardens. The association with Dan Pearson’s re-imagining of the Trout Stream at Chatsworth, which won ‘Best in Show’ in 2015, is clear; ‘big stone’ has already become one of this year’s catchphrases. There is something basic - almost caveman-like - in these designers who haul their monoliths around such restrictively small sites. The recreation of landscape is problematic at a garden show but I found myself enchanted. Derivative some may be but the effect of these gardens is impressive and in some cases transportative.
Below are four gardens at the front edge of this trend. Within this proliferation of rugged landscapes however, a niche has been carved out for something quieter, less ambitious and arguably more conventional. A garden that is comfortable with being a garden.
1 Hugo Bugg (Royal Bank of Canada)
![1 Floom Magazine Hugo Bugg Rbc Rhs 1](https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_hugo_bugg_rbc_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=7e855ab9cab516b4d77fd60d7fa4f2ad 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_hugo_bugg_rbc_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=d9414672233c20a4aa823cdebbb91389 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_hugo_bugg_rbc_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=000825b20cf27b7dc556818878bafc5c 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_hugo_bugg_rbc_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=6250194742fe56dcd9c402d635e8a959 400w)
Since winning gold last year, Hugo Bugg has taken ownership of the master plan for the new Jordanian Botanic Garden and has created a show garden to reflect the beauty of Jordan’s deserts. The harsh geology of this landscape is represented by large, broad-based pyramids of knapped black stone which mark a startling contrast to the softness of the planting, both in colour and texture. Helped by master grower Marina Christopher, Hugo has used red poppies, blue lupins and white crambe woven through meadows of Foxtail Barley (Hordeum jubatum) beneath a sparse canopy of pines.
2 Andy Sturgeon (The Telegraph)
![1 Floom Magazine Chelsea Flower Show Andy Sturgeon The Telegraph 1 Jpg](https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_andy_sturgeon_the_telegraph_1_jpg.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=9f09fca22242c473b77571cc521f6a52 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_andy_sturgeon_the_telegraph_1_jpg.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=ca9c11d6a361628f52739211598d94da 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_andy_sturgeon_the_telegraph_1_jpg.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=5ca5d31a1f6bd82678a082810cd186ab 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_andy_sturgeon_the_telegraph_1_jpg.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=ddafd07d1f789f3d6414342a2202de7b 400w)
A Chelsea veteran, Andy has attempted what is possibly the most ambitious of this year’s show gardens. Cavernous excavations create a meltwater stream that stretches out and away from the visitor. An expert use of textural contrast with brushed metal fins and polished stone against rough cut boulders, all of mammoth scale, creates great drama in a deceptively small space.
3 Cleve West (M&G Investments)
![1 Floom Magazine Chelsea Flower Show M And G Garden Cleve West Telegraph 1](https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_Chelsea-Flower-Show_M_and_G_Garden_cleve_west_telegraph_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=181101014dee4e0ee40a82de76949646 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_Chelsea-Flower-Show_M_and_G_Garden_cleve_west_telegraph_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=f63422716637bdc84742d818c23b77a7 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_Chelsea-Flower-Show_M_and_G_Garden_cleve_west_telegraph_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=87213907a9a6154089c3c03db859be00 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_Chelsea-Flower-Show_M_and_G_Garden_cleve_west_telegraph_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=52674b6189e734d89f2cd49d3a37d254 400w)
Returning to a landscape a bit closer to home, the wilds of Exmoor provided Cleve with the inspiration for this year’s M&G Garden. Twice winner of Best in Show, this show garden is unsurprisingly immaculate in both its execution and its design. Beneath characterful bilberry bushes and downy oaks lies a delicate mixture of perennials and woodland grasses, such as wood melic (Melica uniflora), that blend beautifully. Whereas Andy Sturgeon used ‘big stone’ for dramatic contrast here the sandstone seems to fade in and out of the planting, its hard form broken by dappled shade. Though certainly the most reminiscent of Dan Pearson’s 2015 offering, this garden is undeniably beautiful.
4 James Basson (L’Occitane)
![1 Floom Magazine Chelsea Flower Show Loccitane James Basson Rhs 1](https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_LOccitane_james_basson_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=405ff982e9357f38453e2127036d227d 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_LOccitane_james_basson_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=d502b53d2bcfa95040488a67d642e130 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_LOccitane_james_basson_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=fb2589f80d46e81570bb587ae1d8fb59 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_LOccitane_james_basson_rhs_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=1ca4b2852845baadfae9c896f7bec6e9 400w)
Of all these gardens James’ efforts is the one that sings most clearly of a specific landscape. It is in fact a fragment of a landscape. It will split opinion in its coarseness: dead grass is the most prevalent feature of its planting. Inspired by the ramshackle hillsides of Haute Provenance this garden is a masterclass in restraint that evokes the atmosphere of a particular place. Carefully placed gladiolus and hare bells provide pinpricks of rich colour among the browns and dirty white of crumbling dry stone walls and a dusty river bed. It is a challenging garden but one that has impressive power to transport the viewer.
5 Jekka McVicar (St. John’s Hospice)
![1 Floom Magazine Chelsea Flower Show Jekka Mc Vicar Modern Apothecary Garden 1](https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_Jekka_McVicar_Modern_Apothecary_Garden_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1440&s=9f4cf028f13e07e0bcf077169f2dd70e 1440w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_Jekka_McVicar_Modern_Apothecary_Garden_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=1000&s=8eb4345d7145e613af26cd9e4f514674 1000w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_Jekka_McVicar_Modern_Apothecary_Garden_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=600&s=010318dc61e539f7a4934c03e4c89f54 600w, https://floom.imgix.net/products/1_floom_magazine_chelsea_flower_show_Jekka_McVicar_Modern_Apothecary_Garden_1.jpg?auto=format&crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fm=pjpg&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=65&w=400&s=6035ccb65554e31ab750d567dd7a12d1 400w)
In stark contrast to the previous gardens here is a designer who is attempting to be nothing more than herself, presenting a garden that is nothing more than a garden and all the more magical as a result. A simple geometrical design with a circular herbaceous border, two benches, a sculpture and a fountain set with yew hedges and espalier fruit trees. No changes in levels or unusual plants and certainly no big stone. Its conventionality refreshingly bucks the trends seen elsewhere. This is the first show garden of a woman who has won seventeen golds at Chelsea for her Marquee displays of herbs, and her plantsmanship shines through in the quality of the plants. Equally refreshing is the fact that this garden will go on to live a second life: whereas most Chelsea gardens are dismantled and discarded, this one will be reconstructed at St. John’s Hospice so that its tranquillity might be enjoyed by patients there.
The Writer: Jonny Bruce - Originally from Oxford Jonny is the current Christopher Lloyd Scholar at Great Dixter in East Sussex. He began gardening at university where he founded Girton College's first student allotment. Since graduating Jonny has worked in various public gardens and continues to explore the relationship between art, horticulture and the natural world in his writing and edits a small publication entitled The Germ.