A Suffolk-based horticulture star who designed a unique edible garden at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival has recreated the project at local garden centre, Perrywood, Sudbury.
Lucy Hutchings, better known as She Grows Veg, was challenged with transforming a small plot at the prestigious show into an edible yet ornamental display of plants, fruit, vegetables and herbs.
To create the ‘Get Up & Grow’ garden at RHS Hampton Court, Lucy partnered with the independent, family-owned garden centre and nursery, Perrywood. Lucy and the Perrywood team grew many of the plants used for the garden at their Tiptree nursery. A wide variety were nurtured including everything from artichokes and prickly pears to bananas and climbing beans.
Following the show, which saw Lucy’s project recognised as one of the highlights of the festival, the garden was carefully transported back to Perrywood Garden Centre, Sudbury where it has been rebuilt for the public to visit and explore.
Inspired by Lucy’s new book, ‘Get Up & Grow,’ the garden includes a selection of the projects from the publication, which aims to inspire those with limited outdoor space to grow their own food, and features everything from an IKEA glass cabinet used for propagation to a vertical cutlery pot wall.
Lucy comments: “Creating an edible allotment garden at an RHS Show has been a dream come true! I wanted to demonstrate that growing your own fruit and veg is not only incredibly rewarding, but also achievable regardless of space and skill, while also showing that allotment areas can be both edible and ornamental.
“Bringing the garden home and rebuilding it at Perrywood Garden Centre where each plant was carefully nurtured and grown is a real honour, and I hope that the community who may not have been able to visit RHS Hampton Court will enjoy the garden and have a go at growing their own, too!”
Hannah Powell, Communications and HR Director at Perrywood, visited the festival on press day she comments: “Our customers will have a chance to see the garden for themselves from 15th July at Perrywood Sudbury. There are so many ideas for innovative ways to get growing, with the arch and vertical gardens proving particularly popular at the show and appearing on the BBC’s TV coverage several times. We hope the garden inspires local people to recreate something similar in their own small spaces at home.”
Published by Hardie Grant, ‘Get Up & Grow’ uses Lucy’s background as a designer to illustrate how inspiring growing your own food can be and includes a range of projects for all skill levels and spaces. The book is available on Amazon and all major book retailers now.
To see the ‘Get Up & Grow’ garden at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival, as well as get more grow your own garden inspiration, follow Lucy via www.instagram.com/shegrowsveg, head to her YouTube channel, and visit her website at www.shegrowsveg.com.