Chelsea 2006

The Daily Telegraph Garden

The design for Chelsea in 2006 used materials and planting with rich patina and texture, inspired by the weathering processes of natural and man-made materials. The composition is a study in contrast between the simple and the complex, the romantic and the modern.

Enclosed by alternating sections of hornbeam hedge and corten steel wall, a thirty metre long rill traced the garden’s boundary. Raised water tanks provided markers leading into the garden, which was paved with oak boarding and stone cobbles. This simple structure contrasted with richly coloured herbaceous planting. The garden was framed by two groups of Viburnum rhytidophyllum, pruned to display its angular branches against the rusted steel walls. The garden was built by Crocus.

After the show, the materials used in this garden were reused in Tom Stuart-Smith’s own courtyard garden.