| M&G Investments appoints Roger Platts to create 2010 Show Garden at RHS Chelsea | 
| | Eight years since his last show garden, one of UK gardeners’ favourite designers returns to London’s premier event. | | Roger’s design is a celebration of the traditional – a garden which he believes will stand the test of time. A crescent of paved paths leading to an oak summer house and a hidden sandstone-edged pool are complemented by Roger’s signature lush planting. The RHS predicts the garden will be a big crowd-pleaser. |
“We want a garden that visitors will really love – a design that is quintessentially British yet containing one or two surprising features. Roger will use mostly locally-grown plants and locally-sourced materials to create a garden of the highest quality,” said Jacqui Haskins, Marketing Director of M&G. “Given Roger’s reputation for delivering excellence, both at show gardens and in his own plant nursery, we are confident that he will rise to the challenge to deliver a world-class spectacle in just five months.”
The M&G Garden is a celebration of the traditional: a garden of paved paths bordered by lush planting. Key plants include rambling roses, lavender, fox gloves and myrtle. Roger said; “I am hugely excited to be back creating a big garden at Chelsea. I’ve had other offers to be at the show, but the time feels right and M&G’s brand, values and aspiration to bring something special to Chelsea for people who love gardening is a fantastic opportunity I couldn’t turn down.” 
Roger Platts Design for M&G at the RHS Chelsea Show Garden 2010 See the finished garden 
2010 RHS Chelsea Flower Show
SHOW GARDEN EXHIBITORS LIST
Please note: information in this document is subject to change
Cancer Research UK
Designer Name: Robert Myers Associates
This is a stylish and elegant ornamental, urban roof garden inspired by the sponsor’s chosen theme of ‘Enlighten’. This celebrates how the work of Cancer Research UK has shed light and increased understanding of the causes, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and offers a beacon of hope. The theme of ‘Enlighten’ is represented conceptually as a ‘journey’ towards calm, order, serenity and rationality; physical concepts of enlightenment are explored in the use of light and shade, shadow and contrast. A path composed of granite ‘planks’ winds through a grove of white-stemmed birch under-planted with monochrome herbaceous woodland planting, and emerges onto a terrace surrounded by more colourful, vibrant planting. As the path moves towards a central terrace, the rough stone path becomes more regular and smooth, and the colour of the stone lightens.
 | | The Cancer Research Design for the 2010 Chelsea Flower Show |
The garden is surrounded by a slatted timber ‘cloister’ creating vistas and ever-changing shadows, and the terrace is over-sailed by a dramatic slatted canopy with a central circular opening over a circular reflecting pool. Smaller circular pools of water are scattered through the planting and bring reflected light and gentle movement into the garden. At the rear of the garden the planting gradually becomes more formal and regular with the introduction of a grid of clipped box cubes. See the finished garden
Eden Project Ltd – Places of Change
Designer Name: Eden Project
This garden is twice the size of last year’s Eden Project entry. It will feature a number of designated zones such as crops and food, floristry and leisure, medicine and health, industry and manufacture, and conservation and the environment, all of which act as a metaphor for the hidden treasures that lie within communities and the most unexpected places.
 | | 'Places of Change' design for the 2010 Chelsea Flower Show |
This is a shared garden that will rely upon involvement, collaboration and cooperation and so draw the participant into the ongoing story of Places of Change. The garden will draw on the values and perceptions that shape society and the moves we make to shape our lives. The garden will present a series of achievements and aspirations built around the people who are least likely to be heard and most likely to surprise us. It will demonstrate, through living examples, how horticulture is the foundation for so many opportunities to build skills, provide space, allow recovery, grow business and adapt to changing and difficult times. See the finished garden
Foreign Colonial Investment Trusts
Designer Name:Thomas Hoblyn Garden Design Ltd
“We must cultivate our gardens” are Candide’s final words in the Voltaire’s satire: Candide ou l’optimisme. He is implying that the only way to reach fulfilment is through hard work. The garden celebrates this C18th novel.
The field-like layout of the garden is suggestive of the Turkish smallholding where Candide’s final words are spoken and the planting adds an appropriate Mediterranean flavour. The two pools represent the oceans that Candide crosses in his travels linked by a scalloped flowform designed to mimic the rapids of the river that shipwrecks Candide’s canoe upon entry to El Dorado. Stone-clad and planted walls represent the steep cliffs that surround El Dorado. Love interest Cunégonde and her transformation from coquettish girl to social climbing courtesan is depicted in the sculpture series as Candide’s lusty ‘thought bubbles’ in his trans-global pursuit to have her. With the addition of furniture and pots this becomes a feasible garden that could easily be found in the warmer parts of the UK and it demonstrates new possibilities of exotic plant use due to recent climate change. See the finished garden | 
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Laurent Perrier (UK) Ltd –
Designer Name: Tom Stuart-Smith
The Laurent-Perrier Garden is a vision of romance and elegance that offers a private, intimate space for entertainment or quiet reflection.
A modern garden of subtle and varying textures: the centrepiece is an elegant,
bronze Pavilion designed by award winning architect Jamie Fobert.
The Pavilion is constructed from folded sheets of patinated copper; overlooking an elongated pool of water and Spring woodland planting, it contrasts with the
naturalism around it. A rectilinear pattern of paths guides the viewer through the
curve of the trees, whilst natural stone provides a rich textured wall around the
garden.
The planting consists of three elements: a grove of Betula, River Birch, two hedges of
cloud pruned Box, and woodland planting dominated by fresh white flowers,
woodland grasses, Euphorbias and Blue Iris siberica, which contrast to the strength
and darkness of the bronze. See the finished garden
 | | Laurent Perrier Garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith |
Leeds City Council – The Hesco Garden
Designer Name:Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside
The garden represents a section of publicly accessible green space extending throughout Leeds and comprises of elements that demonstrate the linkage between the natural landscape and recreational space. Its primary purpose is to encourage a wider understanding of the value of natural and managed green space.
The recreational space has been designed with maintenance in mind, in particular the choice of plants and planting approach demonstrates a new way of using hardy annuals in a naturalistic way, with a season of interest that extends from early spring through to autumn. All planting is chosen for its value in supporting and encouraging local wildlife and conservation. See the finished garden
 | | Leeds City Council – The Hesco Garden |
The Daily Telegraph
Designer Name: Andy Sturgeon Garden Design
Inspired by travel, this contemporary gravel garden brings together flavours of the Fynbos of the southern Cape, the Maquis shrubland of the Mediterranean, the Chaparral of California and Mexico, and the Matorral of central Chile. The planting brings an exotic air but this is tempered with more familiar English garden plants which light up the garden with colour. Cor-ten steel screens slice through the garden fusing architectural and sculptural qualities to define spaces and control views within the garden. As visitors navigate the very linear natural stone paths, these views are ever changing with controlled vistas and glimpses of the garden beyond. Open clearings of sparsely planted gravel provide places to pause and linger on a journey that culminates in a courtyard at the rear where the shade of a stately cork oak and the sound of running water combine to create a contemplative space. See the finished garden
The Children's Society
Designer Name: Landform Consultants
The Children’s Society returns to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2010 with a show garden for the modern family. Designer Mark Gregory has taken his inspiration from The Children’s Society’s Well-being report, giving teenagers a garden where they can spend time with their family and friends and relax in a safe and stylish environment.
In a survey of almost 7,000 10-15 year-olds conducted by The Children’s Society, children and young people said what made them happiest was their family, friends and having freedom and choice in their lives, now and in the future. Their local area was one of the things that made them least happy.
The Children’s Society Garden reflects these findings, providing a retreat for the family, friends and neighbours to get together. The covered lounge seating area is an ideal place for the family to unwind around a safely designed fire pit. The area is vented and surrounded by curtains for privacy and warmth. The family can relax in the naturally filtered plunge pool or make pizzas in the large outdoor oven.
The Children’s Society Garden is a modern, urban haven that takes inspiration from what makes children and young people happy and delivers it with style. See the finished garden
 | | The Children's Society Garden |
South Lakes Hotels – The Victorian Aviary Garden
Designer Name: Philippa Pearson & Jonathan Denby
An ornate Victorian aviary has been restored and adapted in a section of a larger garden creating an enchanting focal point and an informal outdoor room for relaxation, eating al fresco and enjoyment of the garden. The two side wings of the aviary, once used to keep exotic birds in during its Victorian heyday, are now planted with shrubs for year round interest. The restored aviary is typical of the grand designs from the late Victorian period, an era appreciated by the garden owners.
Located in Cumbria, the garden uses local materials including Cumbrian slate for paving and limestone for the traditional stone walls on the terrace, typically found in this region of the UK. The avian theme is reflected into other areas of the garden including a bird-themed pebble mosaic path designed by Maggy Howarth. See the finished garden
 | | The Victorian Aviary Garden by Philippa Pearson & Jonathan Denby |
Tourism Malaysia
Designer Name: Amphibian Designs
Inspired by the traditional “kampung” (malay village) way of life, the design takes elements of an idyllic, rural lifestyle and interprets them through a chic, ultra modern lense, to create a landscape steeped in ancient heritage, while simultaneously being at the very cutting edge of international design.
The garden is envisioned as the courtyard of an urban residence in the heart of downtown Kuala Lumpur, and will contrast terraces of minimalist, angular hard landscaping with lush swathes of wild, naturalistic tropical planting. Here, instead of taking its creative inspiration from the ubiquitous Balinese or Thai garden styles, which have been reproduced indiscriminately throughout the tropics, the design will instead be unashamedly and uniquely Malaysian. The scheme’s planting, for example, will use a palette of species iconic of Kampung gardens, most of which are usually considered purely edible crops, yet have an immense ornamental potential that is often over looked. These include the stunning paddles of fruiting banana trees and the swaying trunks of mature coconut palms, all under planted with yams, gingers & lemongrass.
As in a real-life kampung, the planting palette of crops are enriched with species from the surrounding rainforest, which are blessed with some of the most astonishing biodiversity on earth, including the rare and unusual pitcher plants, endangered bat lilies and bizarre orchids found no-where else on earth. In this scheme imported ornamentals, such as the frangipani and the traveller’s palm, are replaced in favour of rare native species unknown to even most Malaysians, such as the iridescent leaves of the endangered Peacock begonia (only found in the mountains of Pahang) & the delicate arching fronds of the elegant Matonia fern, endemic to the peninsula’s highlands. See the finished garden
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