by Holly Chapman | 02 Apr 26 | Commercial Landscaping, Garden Design, News
The National Garden Scheme has announced the distribution of £294,241 of funding to 118 community garden projects across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, supported by Julia Rausing Trust.
Due to this additional funding, the total amount given to community garden projects since the programme began comes to almost £1.5m supporting over 600 community gardens.
Dr Richard Claxton, chief executive of the garden scheme says, “the grants have become a lifeline for so many projects around the country – seeking to provide cohesion, connection, healing, growth and productivity for both individuals and groups of people from all walks of life.”
Many of the funded garden projects are opening this year, for example Growing Space in Gwent, Wonky Garden in Cheshire and The Shakespearean Garden in Manchester.
Funding will be distributed in April 2026 with project updates expected mid-year with completition in 2027.
The 2027 Community Gardens Award project application process will open in the Autumn, with full details available on the scheme’s website.
by Holly Chapman | 25 Mar 26 | Garden Design, News
This year’s Ideal Home Show, held from 10 – 19 April 2026, introduces a renewed focus on gardens as an extension of the home with new faces and practical garden upgrades.
Taking place at Olympia London, the show will hear from experts across planting, design, sustainability and outdoor living including ITV’s David Domoney, garden designer August Beth, outdoor living specialist Henry Bartlam and horticulturalist Lynne Lambourne.
The 2026 edition will explore how gardens can be influential in wellbeing, entertaining and everyday living, joined by the introduction of the Edible Garden.
From sustainable growing, planting opinions and alfresco dining inspiration, the Ideal Home Show also introduces other big names such as George Clarke, Megan McKenna, Nick Knowles and Martin Lewis.
Ideal Home Show director, Giles Perry, says after 118 years of the show “it’s always evolving,” adding:
“For 2026, we’ve injected real energy into every corner of the show, completely re-energising it to create our most immersive and experience-led edition yet and marking a bold new chapter in the show’s history.”
Tickets are available to buy on the website.
by Holly Chapman | 28 Nov 25 | News
The Greenfingers Charity has confirmed newly appointed garden ambassadors to overlook long-term care and development within the Greenfingers gardens.
The new garden ambassadors are Alex Valk, Penny Veel, Marion Cooper, Lisa White and garden designer Phil Hirst and Jo Charlton.
Neil Sewell operations director of Greenfingers says “we’re delighted to welcome our first group of garden ambassadors to the Greenfingers charity”.
The new ambassadors have already spent time getting to know their hospice garden whilst meeting the staff and volunteers who already use and care for these spaces.
Their role will also include supporting ongoing maintenance, helping coordinate corporate volunteering days and providing regular updates.
by Holly Chapman | 12 Sep 25 | News
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has announced that RHS Glow will be returning for the festive season as five of its gardens will light up from 19 November – 4 January.
Featuring reimagined routes, visitors can explore illuminated fountains, tree canopies and seasonal refreshments.
RHS Garden Rosemoor in north Devon will be open on selected dates between 21 November – 30 December.
Up in Yorkshire, RHS Garden Harlow Carr will glow on selected dates across 19 November – 23 December.
RHS Garden Hyde Hall in Essex is opening a new trail, ready for visitors between 21 November – 27 December.
On selected dates between 26 November – 30 December, RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford will invite visitors to visit its Western Walled Garden.
RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey will be creating an extended winter light show on selected dates between 21 November 2025 – 4 January 2026.
Tickets prices vary and more information can be found here.
by Holly Chapman | 07 Aug 25 | Garden Design
Nicola Semple and Susan Begg. Claudio Vazquez
Semple Begg has been awarded the Landscape Design Award of Excellence at a ceremony for its project transforming Drummond Castle gardens, Perthshire, Scotland, ahead of the Dior Cruise 2025.
Recognised by the Perennial Plant Association (PPA) of the USA, the landscape design studio was awarded at the event in Des Moines, Iowa on 30 July 2025.
Commissioned by Dior, the project received feedback from PPA regional board member and master of the 2025 awards ceremony, Scott Hokunson:
“It showed exceptional use of colour and repetition with thoughtful nuances of texture. A wonderful nod to the histories of Scotland in the plant choices. Impressive and well executed.”
Involving nearly 10,000 plants within the listed gardens and grounds, the design was intended to echo the drama and cultural significance of Dior’s creative director Maria Grazia Chirui’s collection.
Susan Begg, co-founder of Semple Begg, says receiving the award has been a “huge honour”.
The project was one of a selection of international entries.
by Holly Chapman | 13 Jun 25 | Commercial Landscaping, Landscape Architecture, News
Southport Town Hall Gardens will undergo renovation plans, supported by a £10m investment, inspired by Bebe King, Elsie Stancombe and Alice Aguiar.
The government has pledged a £5m investment, matched by £2.5m each from Sefton Council and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRA).
Initial designs have been released by KKA Architects and Sefton Council.
A space to host open-air performances, markets, and community events, the Town Hall Gardens revamp will honour the lives of Bebe, Elsie and Alice after the tragic incident that took place in Southport last year.
As their families take the lead in shaping the new gardens, they comment:
“The regeneration of the Town Hall Gardens will become a legacy inspired by our three beautiful and amazing girls and it will be a space that is loved by many generations to come.”
The families view this renovation as a way to thank Southport for its ongoing support since their daughter’s lives were lost after a Taylor Swift-themed dance class last July.
by Aidan Williams | 23 Sep 24 | Domestic Landscaping, News
The RHS is calling for the provision of gardens to be central to UK housebuilding targets, as the country hosts more than 70 green infrastructure experts from around the world and housing crisis solutions are discussed at the Labour Party Conference this week.
The RHS is also calling for a review of the Biodiversity Net Gain 4.0 metric, updated planning guidelines to require cultivated landscapes, and garden masterplans for urban areas. Crucially these gardens or planted spaces might take on new and creative forms.
With more than four fifths of the UK population living in urban areas, ensuring the creation and maintenance of domestic and shared gardens are fundamental in building resilient communities says the charity.
“With plans for a once in a generation housebuilding spree, it is time for a collaborative and coordinated strategy that puts gardens and cultivated green spaces at the heart of our communities, leveraging their numerous benefits for many more people and providing space for active and not simply passive engagement with nature,” says Alistair Griffiths, director of science and collections at the RHS.
Gardens and the cultivated plants within them offer nature-based solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation such as slowing the flow of rainwater, cooling and pollution capture.
They also provide an all-important home for wildlife and promote good health and wellbeing via food growing, promotion of physical activity and social engagement.
However, while developers are currently required to increase a site’s biodiversity provision by 10%, the measure of success, the Biodiversity Net Gain 4.0 metric, does not account for gardens nor the estimated 400,000 cultivated plant varieties thought to be found within them, overlooking them as an important tool in tackling environmental and social problems.
by The Pro Landscaper Team | 13 Mar 23 | Domestic Landscaping, Garden Design, News, Topics
RHS Chelsea will host a third Balcony and Container Gardens category at its 2023 show in May, with all of the design teams headed up by women.
The category, which “brings the beauty of gardens to unused spaces on train platforms, and the cosy feel of a pub to an inner city balcony”, aims to assist emerging designers raise their profiles. All of this year’s entrants have been mentored by RHS Chelsea designer Paul Hervey-Brookes.
The RHS said, “[The entrants] have incorporated some of the biggest issues facing the nation into their designs, with a wealth of ideas for how people with limited space and resources can incorporate drought-tolerant planting and easy-to-grow edible plants.”
– Design duo Amelia Bouquet and Emilie Bausager make their RHS Chelsea debut with The Platform Garden. Inspired by unused overground platform spaces in London, the garden, which features concrete bins as planters and novel ways to harvest rainwater, will eventually be re-homed at a nearby station.
– Emma Tipping, who began her career working in an office in central London, has designed The St George ‘Alight Here’ Balcony Garden which provides a relaxing, playful space with the character and comfort of a good local pub for young professionals to escape the pressures of modern life.
– Julie Haylock, a former staffer at Avon and Somerset Constabulary, has designed a garden inspired by the pioneering palaeontologist Mary Anning offering viewers the walk through time experienced along the Jurassic-coast, while Gini Denison-Pender, a lawyer specialising in children’s cases who has ventured into garden design, has teamed up with Philippa Craddock and Anna Garner to twin the magic of rainforests and the exciting world of children’s books in their balcony garden, The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You Places.
– Camilla Windsor-Clive has paired with Joanne Edmonds to design a Container Garden acting as a sensory healing space for visually impaired people — a demographic close to Camilla’s heart as her two sons suffer from Stargardt disease.
The gardens will go before the RHS judging panel on 21 May before the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, sponsored by The Newt in Somerset, opens to the public from 23-27 May.
Hervey-Brookes said: “The Balcony and Container Gardens this year do not shy away from the big issues of the day and they demonstrate that even the smallest space can have a big impact. From grow-your-own to climate resilience, they are packed full of ideas for visitors to try at home to help make their own spaces more productive, resilient, and restorative.”
Helena Pettit, RHS Director of Gardens and Shows added: “There is much work to be done around increasing diversity in horticulture but it is an encouraging step forward to have a garden category at RHS Chelsea filled with so many women.
“We hope seeing these women create beautiful gardens at the world’s most famous flower show will inspire the next generation of female designers to pursue a career in horticulture. A celebration of ‘Women in Horticulture’ will also be at the heart of the Great Pavilion this year.”
