RHS Tatton 2023 — Amy Gunning Gardens

RHS Flower Show Tatton Park 2023

The Balanced Garden

Gold Medal Winner

Proposed Garden Concept

December 2022

The inspiration behind The Balanced Garden was to create a garden for both adults and children to enjoy within a small urban garden.

This space aims to achieve just that: a place for both adults to relax and entertain, and children to play and explore, within the same small space. All without compromising on aesthetic and keeping wildlife friendly planting central to the design.

Everything is designed to benefit both adults and children to enable more to fit into the space. The planting is sensory and spread across the space to increase engagement further.

Show Garden

Gold Medal Winner

July 2023

The planting continues the theme of appealing to both adults and children - it is colourful, resilient and wildlife-friendly. Plants feature across the space, not just around the edges, allowing an immersive experience, especially for children.

This immersion is strengthened by the choice of planting which appeals directly to the senses - scented Thymus, bee-friendly Nepeta and tactile Deschampsia are just a few. A water-butt is discretely incorporated to increase sustainability.

The garden’s features are also designed to benefit both adults and children. A sandpit and storage box doubles up as seating / a drinks table when entertaining; a bench provides plenty of seating but also a child-height surface space for lying out and playing on; a low water feature creates atmosphere and also a play space for washing toys, stones and filling buckets; gravel is easy to clean and hugely enjoyable to children (pebble shaped to be softer underfoot); a collapsible table and chairs can be easily moved to create more space for play or entertaining; and a chalkboard.

The result is a small space where adults can unwind and entertain, and children can play, explore and relax.