Garden Tour: An English Country Garden With its Own Writer’s Cabin
Take a tour of this lush and magical garden, with its two-storey wooden cabin and tranquil natural swimming pond
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the gold standard for garden design and, this year, the Retreat Garden designed by Jo Thompson created a real buzz among show visitors. Created as a quintessentially British restorative retreat, it was designed as a place where visitors could unwind, relax and be transported to a calmer place.
Walking into the garden certainly felt like entering a lush and magical hideaway, with romantic planting, a natural swimming pond and a fairy-tale cabin creating an oasis of calm away from the hubbub of the show. The garden was awarded a silver-gilt medal by the RHS judges. Take a look around…
Walking into the garden certainly felt like entering a lush and magical hideaway, with romantic planting, a natural swimming pond and a fairy-tale cabin creating an oasis of calm away from the hubbub of the show. The garden was awarded a silver-gilt medal by the RHS judges. Take a look around…
Framed by trees including Japanese maple (Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium’, Acer palmatum and Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’), river birch (Betula nigra) and alder (Alnus cordata), the writing room is accessed via a rustic wooden ladder. Once inside, a little circular window offers lofty views of the garden. The pitched roof and stone and wood pillars reference architectural features common to Kent and the East Sussex countryside, where the designer lives.
Including such a large structure in a show garden was a feat of organisation and planning. It was too large to be delivered to the show in one piece, so it was constructed off-site, taken to pieces again and then reassembled on the Chelsea showground in the days before the event opened.
Including such a large structure in a show garden was a feat of organisation and planning. It was too large to be delivered to the show in one piece, so it was constructed off-site, taken to pieces again and then reassembled on the Chelsea showground in the days before the event opened.
A screen of trees and rich hedgerow, along with lush ground planting, such as large, leafy hostas (Hosta ‘Empress Wu’), creates a dense, leafy backdrop of greenery. Soft, cottage garden planting stands out against this, with scarlet plume thistles (Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’), pale pink foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora and Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’) and soft blue catmint (Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’) working together to create a relaxed, cottage feel.
Take a look around a jewel-coloured and wildlife-friendly English garden
Take a look around a jewel-coloured and wildlife-friendly English garden
The natural swimming pond winds its way though the garden and in front of the cabin, edged all along with water-loving plants and accessed via a wooden walkway. On the opening day of the Chelsea Flower Show, a trio of synchronised swimmers performed a routine in the pond.
As well as entertaining the crowds, this unexpected performance proved that, although it’s a compact size, the pool can work as an actual, functioning swimming space. The cool, inky water is kept clean naturally and requires no chemicals.
Explore a house that has its own natural swimming pond
As well as entertaining the crowds, this unexpected performance proved that, although it’s a compact size, the pool can work as an actual, functioning swimming space. The cool, inky water is kept clean naturally and requires no chemicals.
Explore a house that has its own natural swimming pond
A gravity-defying sculpture at the end of the swimming pond creates a striking focal point in the garden. Made of Purbeck stone, as a nod to the designer’s childhood in Dorset, it has the look of a traditional stone wall with a contemporary twist (literally), as it curls around on itself in a soft shape reminiscent of a snail shell or fossil.
Tucked underneath the writing room, sheltered from the elements, an open deck area has two comfy chairs to offer a peaceful spot in which to sit and look out over the garden. On warm days, the edge of this deck would provide the perfect place to perch and trail hot and tired feet in the cool swimming pond below.
A sunken seating area tucked away at the end of the garden provides another sheltered area with a soft, romantic feel, thanks to tumbling roses, peonies and cottage garden planting. Deliberately positioned in a sunny spot, the warm stone and honey-coloured gravel creates an almost Mediterranean feel, perfect for soaking up the rays on balmy summer days.
Tour more award-winning gardens from the RHS 2015 Chelsea Flower Show
TELL US…
What do you like about this garden design? Did you visit it at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show? Share your thoughts and memories in the Comments below.
Tour more award-winning gardens from the RHS 2015 Chelsea Flower Show
TELL US…
What do you like about this garden design? Did you visit it at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show? Share your thoughts and memories in the Comments below.
Garden at a Glance
Designer Jo Thompson
Garden name The M&G Garden 2015 – The Retreat
Location RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015
That’s interesting The garden has a natural swimming pond running through it that hosted a synchronised swimming display on the opening day of the show
Nestled in a glade of trees in the heart of the garden is an oak-framed writer’s cabin, offering a magical escape for quiet contemplation and uninterrupted writing. The two-storey building was designed as a hideaway and was inspired by famous writers’ retreats, in particular the writing room of poet Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst Castle.