SHOW GARDEN RELOCATION
Explaining the significance of the garden’s relocation, Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive at Muscular Dystrophy UK said, “It was always the intention that our garden would go to a location that would benefit those living with muscle wasting and weakening conditions, as well as the wider community. We believe this hospice is an ideal place as it provides care and support for people who have been diagnosed with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition, such as cancer, lung disease or neurological conditions like muscular dystrophy. Our charity is delighted to provide support alongside the staff there.”
The garden was made possible thanks to funding from Project Giving Back, a charitable organisation that supports gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea and, following the show, in communities around the UK. This generosity and support enabled garden designer Ula Maria to create something unique for Muscular Dystrophy UK, the leading charity for more than 110,000 people in the UK living with one of over 60 muscle wasting and weakening conditions.
Ula Maria created the award-winning Forest Bathing Garden based on the personal experiences and stories she had heard from the Muscular Dystrophy UK community. She wanted to design a garden that showcased how an outdoor space can provide a safe, sanctuary-like environment to support patients and their families during their most challenging times. This garden is an accessible place to give comfort and clarity, to reconnect with oneself and nature, or encourage conversations with others.
Ula envisioned an ethereal, therapeutic, and accessible garden that would create a sense of being immersed in nature, thus providing a juxtaposition to a clinical environment.
The garden at RHS Chelsea included more than 50 silver birch trees, Betula pendula, planted to achieve a birch grove atmosphere, providing dappled shade and thus enhancing the experience of forest bathing.
The birch trees were underplanted with woodland edge style plants, varying from deep shade corners to more open, sunnier woodland glades. Plants like Siberian melic, Melica altissima ‘Alba’, is a graceful, ornamental grass which creates softness and continuity between sunny and shady spots of the garden, while Boehmeria platanifolia, a non-stinging nettle relative, originating from China and Japan, has impressive green foliage to bring texture and character into the garden.
The majority of plants were selected for their beautiful foliage, creating a green tapestry that is rich in texture, with an occasional burst of colour, like Geranium sylvaticum ‘Mayflower’ chosen to bring a vivid mass of wild growing flowers to the design, similar to that of an enchanting woodland.
Visitors accessed the garden at RHS Chelsea through an accessible path that followed a slow-moving naturalised water stream running through the central garden axis, welcoming not only people but wildlife into the garden.
Once RHS Chelsea was over, the garden was carefully packed up and transported more than 400 miles in five articulated lorries, kindly supplied by The Malcolm Group, to arrive at the hospice in May.
Since then, a major operation has taken place to ensure all plants and trees are catalogued, re-potted, and watered daily. Suzie Wills, Hospice Gardener, said, “It is such an exciting opportunity to get to nurture these beautiful trees and perennials for this amazing project.
“Since they arrived on site, we have been busy repotting and cataloguing all the plants, so we know exactly what we have and how best to care for them until they go to their permanent home in the autumn. We have set up a watering system which will work on an automated timer and feed drip irrigation systems for the trees and several sprinklers. We have certainly been very creative and have enjoyed all the problem solving so far.
“The support we have received both from our hard-working volunteers and from local businesses has been incredible, for which we are so grateful. I can’t wait to see the garden in all its glory both in autumn and winter, then when the perennials come to life in spring and summer.”
Rhona Baillie OBE, Chief Executive at The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice said, “We are truly delighted to provide a permanent home for the Muscular Dystrophy UK Forest Bathing Garden and know that it will make a real difference to our patients, their families, and our local communities. The whole design of The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice is focused around bringing the outdoors inside. We believe in the therapeutic benefits of safe and accessible gardens for people and this incredible and unique garden will complement the wonderful outdoor areas we already have available.
“It is a privilege to welcome a ‘Best in Show’ garden to Glasgow and we would like to say a huge thank you to both Muscular Dystrophy UK and the garden funders, Project Giving Back, for making this possible, as well as The Malcolm Group for helping to transport the garden and everyone who has supported us with compost, plants pots, and their time.”
The garden is temporarily sited within the grounds of the hospice. Further land donated by Glasgow City Council next to the hospice will be cleared to allow the planting of the special garden in the autumn.
Garden designer, Ula Maria said, “It means a lot to me to know that the garden will be given a new lease of life and have a positive impact on the local community. I cannot wait to see it in its new home.”
Find out more about The Prince & Princess of Wales Hospice and how you can help support the charity by visiting www.ppwh.org.uk, and follow the progress of the garden on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
