July 5 Post - How show gardens can help promote the work of charities

At Ostrich we are extremely happy to invite celebrated garden designer and broadcaster Chris Beardshaw to describe why promoting the work of charities and campaigns is so important to him.

“For me producing a show garden is a highly creative process whatever the client. But when I am asked to produce a garden at a show or in public spaces, with the aim of promoting and supporting the work of a charity or a particular campaign I admire, I get immense satisfaction because I feel I have contributed to something worthwhile.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working for many great public projects including gardens for the RNLI, RSPB and English Heritage. I have also been asked to produce show gardens for many great causes. At the Chelsea Flower Show in 2006, we designed The Boveridge House Garden which raised awareness of Boveridge House School for children aged 11-18 years that have moderate to severe learning disabilities. In 2012 at Chelsea we designed a garden to raise awareness of the wonderful work at Furzey Gardens in Hampshire which supports adults with learning difficulties. Both projects were extremely rewarding and we had the added benefit of being able to engage the students themselves in the creation and the development of the garden, so that they too gained from the experience.

Raising awareness of Arthritis

This year I was asked to design show gardens for two projects with messages I am very keen to promote.

In May at the Chelsea Flower Show we created a garden for Arthritis Research UK – a charity for which I have a very personal connection, having been diagnosed with a form of rheumatoid arthritis when I was in my early teens. I have had to learn to manage the pain throughout my life along with the 10 million people in the UK who have been diagnosed with one of the 200 forms of arthritis, so to have the opportunity to help raise their profile was very special.

In keeping with how we like to work, we developed a close relationship with the charity so that we could best understand and represent their work. The garden was developed through discussions with the medical and marketing teams at Arthritis Research UK and by reading a number of the charity’s case studies and reports.

The garden was designed to reflect the personal journey and emotions of someone with arthritis, including my own, from the shock, confusion and lack of understanding that follows an initial diagnosis through to a point where they are informed about the disease through the support of Arthritis Research UK and are able to manage their pain and lead an active life, just as I have been able to do.

People often ask why charities invest in show gardens. But the design of this garden and the story within it provided a platform for Arthritis Research UK to talk about their charity and to highlight the research they undertake into the cause, treatment and cure of all forms of arthritis in the UK. It was a very valuable exercise for them to spread their messages, to raise awareness of their work to a worldwide audience and to assist with ongoing fundraising and donations.

Enriching the lives of the elderly

From Chelsea we moved on to create a show garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show for McCarthy & Stone, the UK’s leading retirement developer.

McCarthy & Stone believe that later life should be rich, rewarding and hugely fulfilling. So for this garden I wanted to create a design which was very different from my usual schemes with the aim of provoking discussion around ageing and to challenge the preconceptions and stereotypes of later life. I feel it’s hugely important that we honour and celebrate the experiences and positive role models within the UK’s growing over-60s population and not sideline them as they grow older.

As a nation we seem to have become quite ageist. I have long believed that there should be much greater integration and synergy between the generations. Older and younger people can positively enhance and benefit each other’s lives through sharing their unique experiences, knowledge and wisdom.

With this garden we really want to stimulate discussion around the perceived boundaries, or isolation that older generations can experience. We want to celebrate the valuable experience and contributions people have made throughout their adult years and working life, as well as looking forward to the continued and new contributions they will go on to offer once they have retired.

The garden has been designed to enable visitors to walk through which is unusual for show gardens, as I want people to engage with the planting and the audio clips which McCarthy & Stone have had specially captured for the show and which will be playing through speakers around the garden. The audio element is important as we wanted visitors to be able to engage with the planting and listen to the audio clips from people in their later years sharing their knowledge and experiences, hopes and ambitions for the future.

One feature people are unlikely to miss is the imposing centre piece – a large steel framed androgynous head. With the sculptural head I wanted visitors to be able to look inside it and see the wealth of ideas and memories of older people which are represented by the rich and vivid colours of the herbaceous planting within.

Ultimately I aim to produce a beautiful outdoor space which people can enjoy and hopefully be inspired by, but by creating this more unusual design it will hopefully encourage people to think a little more about the key messages about age which are behind the design. If you are visiting the show or perhaps watching the coverage on the television I hope you will like the garden and support the messages behind it. I would love to hear what you think, so do let me know via my website or via your comments on this blog.

More about Chris Beardshaw:

Award winning garden designer and broadcaster Chris Beardshaw is involved with a wide range of horticultural projects and educational initiatives. His broadcasting career spans over 15 years and he can be heard as a regular panellist on Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time and is currently on our screens in BBC2’s Beechgrove Garden series which runs till October 2013. His latest book ‘100 Plants that almost changed the World’ was published May 2013. For further details on all of Chris’ latest projects, please visit his website or his Twitter and Facebook pages.