RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show teams up with the BBC

(Image – Nigel Dunnett)

RHS gold medal-winning team to create community street feature in support of new RHS campaign, Greening Grey Britain -RHS will work in partnership with BBC Gardeners’ Question Time to highlight the positive environmental benefits of returning the green to our streets.

A section of a Bristol residential street serves as design inspiration at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (30 June – 5 July) as part of the RHS campaign to get Greening Grey Britain. The stunning ‘walk through’ show feature, designed by Nigel Dunnett and The Landscape Agency, will showcase RHS scientific research to demonstrate the positive environmental benefits of increased planting in grey spaces.

The ‘Greening Grey Britain’ garden feature is inspired by the 60m² garden of the Kensington Street’s St Mungo’s Broadway Hostel, which is currently covered with an uninviting layer of gravel. However, gravel will only be the starting point for the Hampton garden feature, with the reimagined space being transformed into a welcoming oasis of plants. The transformed space will illustrate how horticulture could dramatically improve the outdoor environment for the 10 residents living at the temporary home, some of whom have complex needs through former homelessness, addictions or mental health issues.

After the Show, elements of the garden, constructed by Landform UK, will be transported all the way to Bristol to be installed in the Kensington Road community space – ensuring a lasting legacy that will benefit not just the residents of St Mungo’s Broadway, but the wider area.

The ‘Greening Grey Britain’ Garden will highlight the benefits of more plants in hard landscaped environments, from their role in combating climate change to even air pollution abatement. Through interactive exhibits the garden will also encourage visitors to do the same in their own front gardens, community spaces and streetscapes.

BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time (GQT) also charged Nigel with creating a second part of the community street, which will take visitors on a journey, demonstrating how a row of dull and grey, urban front gardens can be transformed into beautiful, but practical spaces.