Mediterranean Garden to feature at RHS Chelsea

Leading estate agent, Hamptons is proud to sponsor a Sanctuary Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, partnering with award winning garden designers, Garden Club London and working specifically with RHS first timer Italian designer Filippo Dester and four-time previous RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold medal winner, Tony Woods.

Inspired by the architecture, warm tones and sculptural planting of the Mediterranean landscape of his homeland and with climate change in mind Filippo has created the ‘Hamptons Mediterranean Garden’. The garden is a contemporary outdoor living space redolent with the look, feel and smell of sunny Mediterranean climes. It combines an outdoor kitchen with shady open-air dining, space where one can relax, enjoy cooking and entertaining family and friends.

The design extends the kitchen as the heart of the home from inside to outside, creating an ideal outdoor entertaining space. With a soothing perfume of aromatic herbs; clever use of aromatherapy and essential oils to aid healing and edibles to forage and nourish, the design aims to promote a sense of well-being while having a clear environmental mandate.

This is a sustainable urban garden that will focus on water conservation as part of considering the effects of climate change. It is densely planted with a palette of drought tolerant ornamental perennials including clouds of scented sub shrubs typical of the “Macchia” and aromatic Mediterranean herbs that encourage biodiversity and provide inhabitants with edible fruits and herbs.

Architectural water feature

With sustainability and water conservation central to the design, the dining space will be surrounded by an architectural water feature, this will act as an example of how rain water can be harvested as well as providing an aesthetically pleasing feature to be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike. Enclosing the outdoor kitchen is a walled pergola, creating an area of shade and providing an intimate room to be enjoyed by family and friends.

The garden will utilise recyclable and non-polluting materials and all components will be repurposed and used after the show in collaboration with Groundwork UK and local schools to create drought-tolerant planting schemes.

Filippo Dester, Landscape Designer at Garden Club London says: “I’m thrilled to be working with Hamptons on next year’s garden after the success and win of 2022. Hamptons Mediterranean Garden is inspired by the landscapes and architecture I grew up seeing in Italy and shaped by my experience working as a garden designer in the UK. The design carries both influences and combines them.

“The typically Mediterranean palette of plants and warm, natural materials is utilised to shape an intimate space, full of texture and scents, which can easily be imagined as part of a larger garden in the Tuscan countryside or as an outdoor entertaining area in an urban setting in the south of England.”

Filippo also points out that connection is a central theme of the garden: “A large table where family and friends gather to share food and each other’s company is a fundamental element of the Italian lifestyle, but as important is the connection between people and nature which can be experienced in a well-designed garden.

“Rich in soft colours and the soothing perfume of aromatic herbs, the garden is also planted with several fruit trees and vegetables which can be foraged through the seasons. Attention to sustainability is also key and was considered at each stage of the design process.”

Lesley Cairns, Managing Director of Hamptons comments: “Following our Gold win last year, we’re delighted to be partnering with Garden Club London once again to create Hamptons Mediterranean Garden. Over the last few years, the garden has become a pivotal part of the home and used in so many different ways, but primarily as a place to escape, relax and entertain. We are thrilled to be able to create a space that is an extension of the home, created with a preference for using recycled and sustainable materials that celebrates the rise in home entertaining.”

The 2023 RHS Flower Show runs from 23rd to 27th May. For Show information visit: https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show

Image credits: ©Garden Club London: Dester/Woods.