THIS year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show sees the return of garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith with his first show garden in 14 years. A Gold medallist eight times and winner of three Bests in Show, he was drawn back by the chance to create a show garden for the National Garden Scheme (NGS), the largely volunteer-run organisation that opens private gardens for charity. Sponsored by Project Giving Back, this is only the second Chelsea garden in the history of the NGS. It will occupy the significant corner site on Main Avenue.
Mr Stuart-Smith's design is based on a grove of hazels with spreading boughs and wizened trunks that promises to be as magical as anything painted by Arthur Rackham. As he says: "There's nothing like a woodland for making you feel that you're in the cradle of Nature.'
The story this fairy-tale glade tells about the NGS (which is approaching its centenary in 2027) is one for the 21st century: the rise of the shared, community garden. As most people know, the NGS-founded almost 100 years ago with the support of COUNTRY LIFE, which published the first Yellow Bookoffers people, for the price of a ticket, the chance to mooch away a golden afternoon in someone else's garden, with tea and a hefty slice of Victoria sponge in a summerhouse. Last year, a record $3,403,960 went to the NGS's mainly nursing beneficiaries.
Denne historien er fra May 15, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra May 15, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
