“My priority is to get behind the message of a show garden, and then add a touch of theatre and magic to ensure we engage and grab attention – and this garden has that in spades,” says designer Matthew Childs of his garden for HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust.
This is Matthew’s second Chelsea garden – a decade on from his first – and the message is a strong one. “We’re highlighting the charity’s 2030 vision: that by 2030 there are no new HIV cases, people with HIV live well, and there’s good sexual health for all.”
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The garden’s setting is reminiscent of a rejuvenated quarry landscape in North Wales, which is partly inspired by the 1980s AIDS awareness campaign that featured a monolithic tombstone. From this fearful place, he looked at how plants can reshape a harsh, wasteland landscape. “It’s a beautiful metaphor for the resilience of the HIV story but also as horticulturists and gardeners, it feeds into how our gardens need to cope with changing climates.”
From a sunken pool at the front, the garden’s contours rise to an area of scree – typical of the free-draining, rocky conditions found in a quarry – planted with small, alpine treasures, such as Raoulia subsericea and Sisyrinchium ‘Quaint and Queer’, strewn amid rocks and crevices. The garden continues up to a terrace with a dry-stone-walled shelter that uses reclaimed and by-product stone and is enclosed by lush planting and trees. “I’m looking forward to the hands-on experience of this garden. Quite a lot is being created by artisans on site – going back to traditional skills such as woodworking and stone masonry. It’s very exciting.”
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5 key elements
1. Tombstone crossing The water in the pool rises and falls. As it recedes, a tombstone-like, slate monolith is revealed – representative of the fear and stigma felt in the 1980s – creating a bridge into the garden and a more hopeful future.
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2. Crevice gardening is a key feature of Matthew’s garden, showcasing how waste substrate can be used to create distinct planting environments, and highlighting some unusual alpines.
3. Stick furniture designed by Swyn Anwyl Williams from North Wales as a contemporary take on traditional Welsh stick furniture.
4. A large precariously balanced boulder, which is seemingly supported by fragile sticks – an analogy for those people lost to HIV.
5. Endangered plants Cotoneaster is a resilient plant often found growing on cliff faces, but the critically endangered Welsh sub-shrub Cotoneaster cambricus had dwindled to just six remaining plants by the 1970s; conservation means there are now more than 100 in the wild.
Designer Matthew Childs. Sponsor Project Giving Back for the Terrence Higgins Trust. Theme A quarry in the landscape of North Wales, referencing the 1980s AIDS: Monolith advert. Contractor Yoreland Design Ltd. Plants Hortus Loci, Beth Chatto Plants, Tony Heaney. After the show Croydon Sexual Health Centre. Contact matthewchildsdesign.co.uk, @matthewchildsdesign
