The Morgan Stanley Garden for the NSPCC by Chris Beardshaw - Best in Show 2018

This garden reflected Morgan Stanley’s longstanding commitment to the wellbeing of children and aimed to raise awareness of the NSPCC, the firm’s current charity partner and leading children’s charity in the U.K.

Chris, who in 2018 celebrated 20 years exhibiting show gardens, began the design process for the garden in July 2017 when he visited the NSPCC to meet some of its practitioners and to learn more about the diverse range of work and day to day challenges the charity faces in its fight for every childhood.

The garden design provided a metaphor for the emotional transition that takes place in a child as they experience the positive impact of the NSPCC’s work. At the start of the garden, the direction of the path is unclear. It moves through a sheltered and densely planted woodland space, filled with a variety of shrubs, including a selection of acid loving rhododendrons and azaleas, shaded by the canopy of large specimen trees.

As the path reaches a corner, it turns to reveal a more open and tranquil space ahead, planted with soft textured perennials in velvety shades of blues, pinks and purples. The path then steps up to a bespoke cedar wood pavilion, which is enclosed at the rear by a calm and reflective canal.

The pavilion has been designed by Chris and features a series of moveable screens which can be closed to create greater privacy and to offer differing vistas of the garden. Looking back out from the pavilion, the garden provides a safe, secure and rich sensory environment.

Plant list

Herbaceous

Ferns

Grasses

Trees

Shrubs

Bulbs

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