The Royal Horticultural Society has announced the winners of the 2021 RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, sponsored by Viking, on the opening day of the RHS’ first major show since 2019.
The prestigious Best Show Garden was awarded to ‘The Cancer Research UK Legacy Garden’ designed by Tom Simpson (London). The garden is a celebration of Cancer Research UK legacies and those who have left them to support research on beating cancer. The garden also won Best Construction for a Show Garden.
Head of RHS Judging, James Alexander Sinclair, said: “The Cancer Research UK Legacy Garden is elegantly designed, beautifully constructed and planted with both style and grace. The beauty of the garden will no doubt draw attention to the admirable cause, Cancer Research.”
Best Small Garden was presented to ‘The Fashion Footprint Garden’ designed by Baz Grainger (Kent) who also received the Best Global Impact Garden trophy. This category calls for innovative planting and design ideas to convey hard-hitting messages, something Baz Grainger achieved to represent the fashion industry’s environmental impact and some of the actions being taken to combat it.
On this garden, James Alexander Sinclair said: “The Fashion Footprint Garden is extremely topical and the garden successfully gets the important message of the impact the fashion and textile industries have on the environment in a clever and original way.”
The smaller Lifestyle Gardens, designed to represent the typical garden and the people and lifestyles of those who use them, saw Mike Long (Suffolk) win the trophy for the Association of Professional Landscapers’ ‘A Place To Meet Again’ Garden. The garden focuses on upcycling and repurposing materials to reduce landfill and challenge innovation.
The Best Construction Award in the Small Gardens categories was presented to ‘The Communication Garden’ in support of Mental Health UK designed by Amelia Bouquet (London) who is exhibiting for the first time at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
Joining the Show’s winners, Dibleys Nurseries (Denbighshire) received Best Exhibit in the Floral Marquee for their display of streptocarpus. A total of 22 Gold Medals were awarded in the Floral Marquee, a testament to the standard of horticulture on display in the area.
