Notcutts Garden Centres joined forces with Jason Williams, The Cloud Gardener, to create a wildlife-friendly shade garden for renters, showcased at the RHS Urban Show in Manchester.

The garden exhibit was co-designed and built by the team at Notcutts Ashton Park Garden Centre in Ashton-Under-Lyne, in partnership with Manchester-based urban garden influencer Jason Williams, The Cloud Gardener, with the aim of showcasing how renters can make the most of a small, shaded outdoor space using moveable potted plants.  

The garden featured a range of vibrant pots, upcycled containers and hanging baskets filled with a mix of evergreen and shade-loving plants. Gravel and stone pathways created texture and interest throughout the garden alongside a small outdoor seating area, and water feature to attract wildlife. Many features in the garden were portable to demonstrate how someone renting a home could create a space to enjoy and take with them to their next home. 

The design was one of seven gardens created as part of The Cloud Gardener’s ‘Cloudscape’ project, aiming to tackle some of the common challenges faced by urban gardeners. The Cloud Gardener’s vision is about creating greener cities for residents, with horticultural retail, developers and local authorities all working together to make urban areas greener. 

Kath Mitchell, garden centre manager at Notcutts Ashton Park explains how the collaborative project came about: “We’ve been following Jason Williams’ journey as The Cloud Gardener for some time, as he shares our passion for biodiversity and sustainability through gardening and wildlife. We were inspired by his creative vision for urban gardening, so we were keen to explore ways that we can work together. 

“The RHS Urban Show has been a fantastic opportunity to share our garden design expertise and to work collaboratively with Jason to create something inspiring and relatable. We hope the garden inspired people to realise the amazing potential of their outdoor space as a haven for wildlife – no matter how small or shady, or temporary as a renter. The impact on wildlife in the city centre would be incredible if everyone were to just add one or two plants to their homes, using whatever outdoor space they may have.” 

The show garden will now be relocated to the Notcutts Ashton Park Garden Centre where the public can continue to enjoy it. The RHS Urban Show was new for 2024, hosted entirely indoors at Depot Mayfield, Manchester, to celebrate urban and city gardening. In a similar style to the renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Urban Show featured a selection of creative garden designs showing innovative planting and ideas for small spaces, as well as talks from experts on urban gardening and houseplants. 

For more information about Notcutts visit notcutts.co.uk. To find out more about The Cloud Gardener and his urban gardening projects, visit cloudgardeneruk.co.uk.