Join garden designers Nigel Dunnett and Tom Hoblyn for an exclusive insight into how they created their show gardens for this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Nigel Dunnett is Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture at the University of Sheffield, and a gold-medal winning designer and author. He is one of the world’s leading voices on innovative planting design and ecological horticulture. He’ll be talking about his remarkable sand dune garden which takes its inspiration from the coastal location of charity partner Hospitalfield Arts in Arbroath. The garden interprets this landscape through the eyes of an artist, and creates a dramatic, highly sculptural topography. At the heart of the garden is an outdoor artists’ studio. The planting is resilient and forward-looking, and is established in sand, provoking discussions about trends for planting in low-fertility mineral substrates rather than rich topsoils for climate-adaptation. The garden features a dune pool, which collects rainwater from the studio and the surrounding dunes.
Tom Hoblyn is a RHS Chelsea Flower Show veteran who has created the Hospice UK – Garden of Compassion at the show this week. The garden has been designed for patients and families at the end of life. Drawing from his deep connection to the Mediterranean landscapes he’s explored on plant hunting trips, Tom has crafted a garden that combines the grounding presence of natural stone with the calming effects of drought-tolerant plants. Tom has used materials from the North East of England (as the garden is being relocated to St Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham after the Show) and he has worked with extraordinary artisans on the sculptural benches and water features, to make a garden that aims to support both the emotional and physical needs of those in hospice care.
Speakers
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Nigel Dunnett
Nigel Dunnett
Nigel Dunnett is Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield and is one of the world’s leading voices on innovative approaches planting design. He is a pioneer of the new ecological and sustainable approaches to gardens, landscapes, and public spaces. His work revolves around the integration of ecology and horticulture to achieve low-input but high-impact landscapes that are dynamic, diverse, and tuned to nature. Nigel’s work is based on decades of detailed experimental work, delivering a wide range of innovative approaches to achieving transformational and multifunctional urban greening. His work has had widespread application in practice: he works as a designer and consultant and regularly collaborates with a wide range of other professions. Nigel was the first winner of the Landscape Institute Award for Planting Design, Public Horticulture and Strategic Ecology in 2018. In 2020 Nigel was made an Honorary Fellow of the Landscape Institute, and in 2023 an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and appointed as a Royal Designer for Industry. Nigel’s 2019 book ‘Naturalistic Planting Design: The Essential Guide’ (Filbert Press) is a market leader in the field and won ‘European Garden Book of the Year, 2021. Nigel’s book with colleague James Hitchmough ‘The Dynamic Landscape: ecology, design and management of urban naturalistic planting’ (2003, new edition coming in 2025) is a classic text. Nigel founded the company ‘Pictorial Meadows’ which is now the UK market leader in ‘Designed Meadows’. In December 2022 Nigel was named as one of the top three most influential people in the UK landscape Industry. Projects include: Tower of London Superbloom 2022; The Barbican, Beech Gardens and High Walk (Phase 1 2013, Phase 2 commencing 2026); Grey to Green, Sheffield (2015-2020); Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (co-principal planting design consultant 2008 – 2014 and ongoing); Grosvenor Square, London (implementation 2025-6); Battersea Power Station (2022); Diamond Garden, Kings’ Gallery, Buckingham Palace 2013. Nigel takes a ‘People-First’ approach to bringing sustainable and biodiverse urban greening into the mainstream. Nigel was appointed as a ‘Royal Designer for Industry’ in 2023.
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Tom Hoblyn
Tom Hoblyn
Tom is a British landscape designer, horticulturist and gardener who set up his garden design practice shortly after graduating from The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His work is underpinned by his innate understanding and knowledge as a plantsman and horticultural master. He has an inherent discernment for the intangible ‘spirit of place’ that characterises a landscape.
