A show garden at this year's Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is set to be 100 per cent peat-free from plug to plot.
The RHS Peat-Free Garden by designer, writer, presenter and RHS Ambassador Arit Anderson will feature more than 2000 annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees sourced from peat-free growers. Growers supplying the garden include Golden Valley Plants and Rjinbeek alongside partners in the RHS Peat-Free Fellowship, Farplants and Hilliers.
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The naturalistic planting of the garden will mimic an untouched peatland before moving into a recognisable domestic garden containing shady and sun-loving borders. All of the materials used in the design have been recycled, including a large greenhouse which will be made using old windows, borrowed paving, old railway sleepers and a disused beehive that will become an insect hotel. Two large water butts will collect rainwater from the greenhouse and channel it into a wildlife-friendly water feature and rain garden.
The garden will play host to a series of talks and workshops throughout the show that will demystify the origins of growing mediums such as compost, mulch and soil improvers. There will also be advice on peat-free sowing and propagating as well as advice on how to water peat-free potted plants.
Arit said: “The RHS Peat-Free Garden will be packed full of planting and design ideas gardeners can take home and apply on their own plot. I’m incredibly proud of this peat-free show garden which I hope will help shine a light on the issue and empower gardeners and industry to help bring about change. However, I also recognise the challenges designers face with residual traces of peat found in plants and that’s something the RHS is working hard to address.”
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Also at Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July, Anya Lautenbach (a.k.a @anya_thegarden_fairy) is creating 'The Money Saving Garden' which aims to show people how they can create beautiful gardens without spending heaps of cash.
Anya has joined forces with RHS Ambassador and plantsman Jamie Butterworth to create a garden that will showcase how to grow plants for free and save money in the garden.
Anya said: “If you have an existing, relatively mature garden you can create more than 300 plants a year through propagating. And that’s without a greenhouse or specialist equipment … it’s almost another whole garden for free!
From a mature lavender plant I can take cuttings in spring to get about 100 new plants. And don’t forget that lavender needs to be pruned anyway each year, so why not turn your waste into plants by pruning them and then growing those cuttings on. And if you don’t have a garden, but want to grow more lavenders on your windowsills or containers, the same principle applies – prune them and then grow the cuttings to create new plants.”
Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival runs from 2-7 July 2024.
