RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2024 - Long Border

This year we’re very excited to have our design accepted by the RHS Flower Show at Tatton for a Long Border.

A Long Border is a chance for designers to showcase a their creativity and hopefully inspire a passion for planting design. The border is raised and 7m long by 1.8m wide making a perfect place to experiment with interesting planting combinations and giving the viewer the chance to see the whole border from every side.

This is our first experience participating in a flower show, despite being being designers for many years and horticulturists for a lot longer, so we’re very excited. If you see us at the border or around the show come and have a chat, we’re always happy to to talk about gardens or gardening!

Our Concept

Every design has to have a concept and one of the judges criteria is how well the border fits to it. You can see our long border concept below along with our hand drawn concept drawing.

Melting Pot

Gardens have always reflected the cultural direction of society. This border makes a statement about the current culture of borderless social connections. There is an unprecedented interconnectedness of different communities, and a shift towards a new cultural identity composed of a patchwork of cultural elements.

We wanted to create a border that has cohesion within the planting scheme despite an unlikely combination of plants. We intend this to make a visual statement reflecting the beauty and vibrancy of the cultural melting pot.  

Our planting scheme reflects this with its complicated mix of colours, varieties and plant origins such as bold and heavy Phormiums and striking Catalpa combined with the classic delicacy of the English Rose and Irises. The juxtaposition between the structural planting which is strong in form and colour, and the softer shapes and cooler colours of the filler plants creates a contrasting and yet complementary aesthetic. 

The sculpture uses copper wire to represent the lines of communication which connect and divide us. It weaves subtly through the planting to create the sense of partitions whilst allowing the viewer to explore the planting behind.

Find out more about us and the different projects that we’re involved in.