The Octavia Hill Garden by Blue Diamond with the National Trust designed by Ann-Marie Powell has won the first ever Children's Choice Award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.
Nine London primary schools were invited to the world’s most famous horticultural event to judge the show gardens and pick a Children's Choice.
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Riley Garvey, age 11, Christchurch Primary, says: “I chose this garden because I like how there’s a lot of things you don’t find out until later on. The planting is on point and it looks like they spent a lot of time on it.”
Questions that the children were asked to consider included: 'Is the garden a good place to play?' 'Is the garden attractive to wildlife?' and 'How does the garden make you feel?'
Children have been invited to be more involved with Chelsea than ever this year, with the show also hosting the RHS No Adults Allowed feature garden designed by pupils from Sulivan Primary School in South West London in collaboration with designer Harry Holding.
Ann-Marie Powell, award-winning garden designer and winner of the inaugural Children's Choice Award, said: “I couldn’t be more delighted. These are the gardeners and the horticulturists of the future and exactly the sort of people we want to be running all over our (RHS The Octavia Hill Garden) garden.
It’s a community garden so it was designed with children in mind but not in an obvious way. We don’t need swings and slides always. This is all about plants and nature and them absolutely falling in love with that from as early an age as possible.”
Listen to Ann-Marie talking about this garden on Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast.
