Naturally Inspired | The Enduring Gardener

Naturally Inspired
13th July 2011 • Hampton Court Flower Show • Stephanie Donaldson

It was hard to believe that this pond isn’t a permanent fixture – it even had a dragonfly flitting around

WWF garden evoked a chalk stream

I’m a great fan of the use of hoggin (compressed clay and gravel) to create paths. Here it curves round a log-filled rill

One of the strongest themes at the show was of gardens that looked more like fragments of countryside, from the wildlife pond in the RHS Edible Garden to the orchard in the Copella Garden which also featured an (in my opinion) underused material – hoggin. Its soft tones and versatility mean it can be used in a free-form manner like it has been here.

A very real looking rough track wending in front of the turf-roofed cottage

Copella’s garden was fringed by an orchard

A white cliff and seaside planting in one of the Poet’s gardens