Savills and David Harber return to Chelsea

Award-winning international artist and popular RHS Chelsea Flower Show regular, David Harber, is once again sponsoring a garden on Main Avenue with global real estate provider, Savills. The ‘Savills and David Harber Garden‘ will be designed by Andrew Duff MSGD and will seek to create a beautiful, sustainable woodland clearing in a city garden.

The garden is endorsed by the Environmental Change Institute, part of Oxford University, and will use predominantly native planting.

Having successfully joined forces at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2018, this second collaboration between Savills and David Harber, is the brainchild of Andrew Duff, that will host sustainable features, including bio-diverse large trees, a water purifying wetland area, a green wall and permeable surfaces.

Incorporating roughly 1000 perennial plants, under planting 18 mature trees provided by Majestic Trees, the 30 square metres of woodland edge meadow turf will be inter-planted with 10,000 bi-annual species, filling the remaining space. Colour scheme will be predominantly a natural shade of green with the introduction of soft whites and yellows to highlight key focal points.

(Above, Andrew Duff works with students on the garden’s design)

Key plants featured will include Carpinus betulus, Alnus glutinosa, Iris foetidissima, Smyrnium olusatrum and Pilosella aurantiaca. As Managing Director of the Inchbald School of Design, Andrew is delighted to have recruited several of his students to help with the planting of the garden.

A key feature will be the central pool of water which plays host to a sculptural installation, inspired by the surrounding woodland setting. From a shadow of ‘leaves’ which flutter on the surface of the water, the installation will soar high into the trees. Designed by David Harber, the sculptures are designed to play with light and create beautiful dappled patterns across the water. This unique work of art will pay homage to the natural calm of its environment with its reflective, textured surface and defiant poise.

David is thrilled to have been able to design a bespoke sculpture for the ‘Savills and David Harber Garden‘ that not only seeks to celebrate but improve the way we treat our surrounding environment, even in a city setting: “The delicate beauty of nature has always been a key inspiration. Our piece supports the message of sustainability and mirrors the garden’s ethos, providing respite and calm in an urban environment. The design symbolises the physical and visual link between the elements earth, air and water; reaching skywards and connecting symbolically. The fluttering ‘leaves’ on the surface of the water references their purifying and filtering qualities providing an example of the energy that the sculpture portrays,” adds David.

Richard Rees, Managing Director, Savills UK, is very much looking forward to returning to the RHS Chelsea Flower as co-sponsor with David: “The ethos of Andrew Duff’s design for the Savills and David Harber Show Garden is sustainability, something that is increasingly a focus for many of our property owner and developer clients. The garden will showcase how, in an urban environment, home owners and developers can include sustainable, environmentally-friendly features to create gardens and outside spaces that both add to the personal enjoyment of a home or community space and deliver wider environmental benefits.”

David’s designs are always a popular ‘must-see’ at Chelsea and I am sure that this second Main Avenue garden will be another success.

Picture credits: All photographs ©David Harber/Savills/Andrew Duff