A Beautiful Border adventure at Gardeners’ World Live

Every summer, the many garden and flower shows taking place around the country bring us spectacle, inspiration, and of course, a great day out! We love checking out the garden trends, finding out the latest ways to work with nature and support the environment, and possibly also indulge in a little retail therapy…

The gardens are a centrepiece of these marvellous events. Producing a garden is a huge undertaking, and each year we do what we can to support garden designers as they create these inspirational exhibits. For example, this year we were excited to once again help out Carey Design Studio with tools for the build of their gold medal-winning The Addleshaw Goddard: Freedom To Flourish Garden.

However, we especially like to work with people just starting out on their garden design journey. And when it’s all for a good cause, too – well, even better!

A Beautiful Border for a Marie Curie Hospice

We met Laura Whiskens at a garden event earlier in the year, and she shared that she would be creating a garden in the Beautiful Border category at Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC. The garden would be in memory of her mum, and after the show a good part of it would go on to another life at the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull. Well, we were more than happy to help.

For the build, we provided Laura and her team of volunteers with a selection of sturdy tools from our new RHS-endorsed BoronGreen range. We also sent some items from our colourful Collector range which would be used to prop the garden.

After the show, we caught up with Laura to hear about her experience.

“It was amazing! The most fun and tiring thing I have ever done but I loved every moment. It was my aim to just soak it all up and enjoy it and not stress. Goal achieved! It was one of the best experiences of my life, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

I've had an allotment since 2021, but before that I hadn't had a garden or any garden experience until I bought my first house in December 2019. The garden was grey and unloved so I knew I wanted to bring it to life come spring. Then lockdown gave me the perfect chance to really get into gardening! 

I started adding flowers to my allotment last year as companion plants to keep the caterpillars and creatures off my veg (I don't use chemicals or pellets and wouldn't use beer traps). This gave me inspiration to design the Beautiful Border for Gardeners’ World Live!”

Connecting with nature, nourishing the soul

Laura’s border deign was called ‘Nourishing the Soul’ and was inspired by the gardens of the Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull. The gardens are peaceful and comforting, evoking a connection with nature as the relaxing scent of lavender and the gentle humming of bumble bees draw you into a comforting embrace.

The garden aims to connect and cultivate the soul with nature. A peaceful seating area allows you to sit and enjoy a space surrounded by plants which symbolically offer healing and protection. Opposite is a prayer bowl, where you can offer thoughts and prayers to loved ones by adding pebbles into the cleansing water.

Laura explains: “I created the show garden in memory of my mum, Marie. I've taken a lot of comfort from my allotment and garden, and I like to think she's there with me when I need her. She LOVED a cup of tea, so I knew that a teapot and cups had to feature in there for her. Someone commented that the way I had positioned my props looked like I had just popped in to put the kettle on midway through watering and tending to the garden, which I loved."

She continues: "The tools were so good to have during the actual build, but having the watering can and caddy with hand tools and snips on display was SO helpful! They looked so pretty, but also meant I was able to do some sneaky watering and deadheading/tidying during the actual show, because the heat was crazy.”

And the result of all the hard work? Congratulations to Laura on her Silver Merit medal!

“The judges said they loved it! The colours, the path, the design and scheme, and the details. They said I have an eye for colour and the public would love it. They also said Mum would be really proud, which was wonderful feedback.”

It was Laura’s birthday a couple of days after the end of the show. How will her gardening plans for the year ahead top the year of her Gardeners’ World Live experience? We’ll be following Laura’s next steps and we can’t wait to find out!

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Congratulations to Laura Whiskens (Insta: @lottieonthehill) on her Gardeners’ Live silver medal. Thank you for sharing your story. Laura!