In the first of its kind, the RHS No Adults Allowed Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 has been designed by children, for children. Yet newly-announced RHS Patron, King Charles III and Queen Camilla were given special access to the strict children’s-only garden during their royal visit on Monday’s press day.
The RHS No Adults Allowed Garden: key details
- Category: Feature Garden
- Designed by: Harry Holding and Sulivan Primary School
- Built by: Water Artisans
What is the garden about?
The RHS No Adults Allowed Garden highlights the importance of access to nature for children, and celebrates the joyous wonder children can experience within beautiful landscapes. Along with co-designer Harry Holding, the children from Sulivan Primary School in Fulham have created an immersive experience where they can scramble over boulders, splash around in the natural stream, and dive into jubilant planting.
What are the key elements of this garden design?
Harry, who won the All About Plants People’s Choice Award for the The School Food Matters Garden at RHS Chelsea 2023, has designed a space using all the imaginative ideas from the children at Sulivan Primary School.
The garden design includes a woodland, meadows, and a wetland with heightened colour and oversized bog plants, plus a natural den set within a pool of water.
The garden is said to represent a joyful journey through a fantastical landscape. The adventure garden culminates at the final destination – a natural den set within a pool of water. This sunken space is a sanctuary where children can play, learn and explore the natural world around them.
There are major sustainability credentials too. The garden is cement and concrete free, it only uses natural materials, and it has also largely been created with recycled materials (e.g. deadwood from RHS Wisley), plus it incorporates a highly biodiverse and wildlife-friendly planting scheme.
RHS No Adults Allowed Garden
Adults can enter, if they make one of three pledges
The garden initially had only one rule for adults – they were simply not allowed on the garden – but following some serious negotiating, RHS director general Clare Matterson has persuaded the children to agree that adults can enter when the show officially opens on Tuesday 21st May, but only if they pledge to do one of three things:
1. Plant a tree
2. Donate to RHS Campaign for School Gardening to help give other kids access to nature
3. Find a flower that starts with the first letter of their name.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the garden
The royal visit took place during Monday’s press day
Where will the garden relocate to?
The garden is being relocated to Sulivans Primary School in Fulham, which is close to the RHS Chelsea show ground.
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Olivia Heath is the Daily Editor at House Beautiful. Heading up all things digital, Olivia loves nothing more than uncovering tomorrow’s biggest design trends and sharing the best decorating tips, small space living solutions, and houseplant care and gardening advice. Week by week Olivia compiles the most stylish high street homeware buys to help you get the look for less, and showcases the best makeovers, as well as the hottest and most unique properties on the market. She also loves covering some of the biggest events in the calendar, including all the action from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Colour of the Year forecasts from Pantone to Dulux, and exclusive previews of all the new Christmas collections before it hits the shops.
Olivia has been writing about homes and interiors for the past seven years, and her work has also been published on Elle Decor US, Country Living, Good Housekeeping, Red, Prima, Elle Japan, Modern Living and Micasa Revista.
Prior to joining House Beautiful, Olivia worked at Reveal magazine, where she reported on celebrity and entertainment news by day, and attended showbiz parties and red carpet events by night! Olivia has an MA in Journalism with an NCTJ qualification, as well as a BA in Journalism and Media & Cultural Studies.
Source: housebeautiful.com
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