British craftsmanship, collaboration and Sheffield stories celebrated in Horatio’s Garden
British craftmanship, widespread collaboration and powerful stories from its future home in Sheffield all prominently feature within Horatio’s Garden Chelsea - the first garden on Main Avenue at RHS Chelsea Flower Show with mobility needs at its heart.
The garden will offer visitors to Chelsea a sense of the hope and transformative effect that having access to a Horatio’s Garden can have on mental and physical recovery following a traumatic spinal injury. Designers, Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg from Harris Bugg Studio have met and listened to the whole Horatio’s community of patients, NHS staff and garden teams and distilled the key elements they value most in all the gardens.
A series of bespoke designed elements within the garden are inspired by the history, geography and industry of the garden’s future Yorkshire home at the Princess Royal Hospital in Sheffield. Other features provide an immersive, restorative haven in stark contrast to the busy, clinical atmosphere of a hospital ward.
A water feature designed to be interacted with at an accessible height for those in wheelchairs and beds, will bring sound and movement to the garden and encourage wildlife. Taking inspiration from the industry that made Sheffield famous, it represents the stages of creating and shaping cutlery by using casts taken from historic moulds, dies and cutting blocks to form a multi-height arrangement for gently brimming water.
Three stone cairns are being created on site by master stone wallers Lydia and Bert Noble, whose Yorkshire family have been building with stone for five generations. Symbolic of wayfinding when the path is unclear and a familiar site on the rural Yorkshire landscape, referencing the many people who have gone before. They will be built using Derbyshire grit stone in a traditional drystone method and are a sum of many component parts, alluding to the multiple layers and community that aid any recovery from trauma.
A garden room created in partnership with Mcmullan Studio provides a cocooning, warm and welcoming space for shelter and privacy. Clad in tactile timber shingle, it will also offer carefully selected ‘vignettes’ of the garden with views out at different heights and a skylight for patients in beds to connect with the skyscape. It will feature an artwork featuring a thousand clay fingerprints from patients, staff, volunteers, and those who have brought the garden to life. Imprints include those from Patron HRH Princess Eugenie of York and Appeal Ambassador actor George Robinson, star of Sex Education.
Accessible paths are made from an entirely new cement-free, permeable terrazzo surface that allows pain-free movement and is environmentally friendly. The beautiful finish comes from polished crushed waste. These paths are easily navigated by patients in beds, wheelchairs, or by those who are learning how to walk again.
Layered planting will allow viewing from various vantage points, reflecting how patients in beds or wheelchairs see and interact with the garden. Plants chosen for their sensory contribution include Acer beurgerianum with delicate leaf shapes that create dappled light and beautiful shapes when looking up from a bed, while Betula nigra has a tactile bark. A colour palette of lime green, pinks, purples, bronzes, creams, pale yellows and oranges will be used.
Find out more about Horatio’s Garden Sheffield, how to donate and view our fundraising film here.