Thrive Garden Wins Silver Gilt Award at RHS Chatsworth.

Award winning designer Richard Rodgers https://www.richardrogersdesigns.com created a garden at this years RHS Chatsworth to support the gardening for health charity, Thrive. Richard has a strong belief in the health and wellbeing benefits of gardens and green spaces and is also a trustee of the charity. ‘Spending time in nature has been shown to help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, while improving mood, and I am hoping the Thrive garden will enable more people to appreciate its benefits’ said Richard.

This Silver Gilt Award winning garden was part of the Mindfulness Garden category at the RHS Flower show in June 2019. The garden is a space to relax, retreat and meditate.

A large bronze statue 1.8M high, depicting the serene image of a face, was placed so that it could be seen emerging from the background foliage, forming a stunning centrepiece. Partially obscured by trees at certain points in the garden, it revealed itself as the viewer’s perspective shifted through the garden.

The garden’s aim was to evoke calm while reinforcing the link between nature and wellbeing.

The infinity pool reflected the statue, which sat next to a sunken seating area, represented our ability to notice and reflect on our own thoughts and feelings – the practice of mindfulness.

The planting was combined of a rich mix of cream, bronze and coppery tones with purples and silver-blue foliage that linked to the Verdigris colours in the statue creating a harmonious feeling in the space.

Europlanters was commissioned to create the curved bench in the seating area. The bench was made from chunky pieces of curved sapele with timber legs to match.

Richard Rogers said ‘with the increasing busyness and pressures of everyday life, the value of taking time out is so important. In this garden, the design and the planting will all invite the visitor to stop, pause and reflect.’

On behalf of Europlanters John Wilkes said ‘We are thrilled to have been asked to contribute to this splendid garden and support such a wonderful charity.’