The Weston Garden sees the return of world-renowned designer Tom Stuart-Smith to Chelsea to celebrate local communities across the UK. Celebrating 60 years of charitable giving by the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Weston Garden is totally recyclable and accessible to all – a real highlight in the Great Pavilion.
Winner of eight gold medals and three Best in Shows, Tom Stuart-Smith last created a show garden at RHS Chelsea in 2010, and this year he is returning to work with the Garfield Weston Foundation, one of the UK’s largest charitable funders, as part of their 60th anniversary. The RHS and the Foundation have announced a partnership to create the Weston Walled Garden at the new RHS Bridgewater Garden in Salford, the masterplan of which has also been created by Tom. At Chelsea this year, the Weston Garden will be the main feature in the Great Pavilion and is a garden where everything to the smallest item is recycled. Many of the plants have been to Chelsea before and are borrowed from Crocus for the duration of the show. Other plants will be specific to the Weston Garden but will be reused afterwards.
The garden balances modernity and tradition, using topiary, but not in a traditional way. Full of texture and variety, the garden is an exploratory space where more is revealed on turning every corner and the solidity of the large topiary creates partial subdivisions and private spaces. The garden is accessible to all and designed with four different entrances so that everyone can enjoy different aspects of the garden.
It is unusual for a garden of this scale at the flower show to have full public access – this emphasises the open approach of the Weston Foundation and the support it has given to thousands of charities across the UK. The garden also reflects the Foundation’s commitment to supporting communities to thrive and celebrates their partnership with the RHS for the new garden at RHS Bridgewater in Salford.
Tom Stuart-Smith says:
“I had no plan to return to Chelsea again but the opportunity to work with the Garfield Weston Foundation to create a garden that celebrates their anniversary and their partnership with the RHS was very appealing. This is a garden where you can sit and reflect – it’s very simple and very approachable as well.
I also wanted to bring back plants that had been to Chelsea before and which we could recycle. All too often we are obsessed with novelty and I wanted to create a mature, honest garden at the heart of Chelsea.”The Garfield Weston Foundation’s Director, Philippa Charles, says:
“The Foundation has a long-standing relationship with the RHS, recognising its excellence and the important role horticulture and our environment plays in people’s wellbeing. We are delighted that Tom has designed the Weston Garden in celebration of the Foundation’s 60th anniversary and exceeding £1billion in donations.”Director General of RHS, Sue Biggs, says:
“We are thrilled to welcome multi RHS gold medal winning designer, landscaper and the master planner behind our newest garden, RHS Garden Bridgewater, Tom Stuart-Smith back to RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, with a wonderful feature to celebrate 60 years of the Garfield Weston Foundation. The Royal Horticultural Society is one of many charities across the UK that the Foundation supports. We are incredibly grateful for the hugely generous £5 million grant kindly awarded to the RHS last year to help restore the historic walled garden at RHS Garden Bridgewater.”