Interview: Peter Chmiel on winning Best in Show

First time Chelsea designers Peter Chmiel and Chin-Jung alongside construction company The Outdoor Room not only scooped up a Gold medal for their work, but also Best in Show at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. We speak to Peter Chmiel about what this means, as well as the challenges of building a Chelsea Show Garden.

How did it feel to win Best in Show?

Chin and I are super proud and delighted  to win gold and best show garden at our debut show. The generous comments during the press day, gala night and now the RHS days has been so very complimentary. We are both so pleased by the attention the garden has received and that it’s core messages regards greening our city’s and sharing them with nature is being promoted at the worlds most prestigious garden show.

Were there any challenges to creating the garden?

As our debut show the biggest challenge has been learning on our feet regards the  the build of a large show garden with a huge amount of water, large structures, 12 mature trees and 3,500 plants and all in a couple of weeks! It’s certainly more hectic than our usual 18- 24 month landscape build.

What was it like creating a garden in September?

Creating a garden in September has actually been rather pleasant and we did not really have to change our planting vision. A few new species were added to replace plants like fox gloves, cow parsley and primula but, our vision of a calm serene green planting with soft whites and hints of yellow and blues was achieved and well received. The late season has helped our aquatic planting which is a key aspect of our blue kidney area.