RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 – Best in Show

The Telegraph Garden is inspired by the magnitude of geological events that have given shape to our planetary landscapes over millions of years. It is also about climate change and how we humans – within a couple of hundred years – will have had a devastating impact on geological time, which usually works in tens of millions. The gravity of this impact – that is now being referred to as the Anthropocene – is however somewhat out of sync with one of the stated aims of the garden, to demonstrate our relative insignificance. Described as a ‘captured landscape’ – this garden that has won Best In Show – is nevertheless a beautifully subtle balance of artificial and naturalistic elements as well as palette.

The world-class Great Ormond Street Hospital may be experts in healing the bodies of sick children, but gold medal winning veteran Chris Beardshaw’s Morgan Stanley Garden, is all about healing minds – particularly of stressed and anxious parents. This masterfully tranquil yet optimistically inspiring garden of virtuoso excellence will be relocated piece by piece onto a second floor rooftop surrounded by other buildings. Chris’ sophisticated design and horticultural skills along with a widely informed awareness of garden history and global traditions, have helped shape this contemplative oasis.

“Parents’ genuine need for a space where they can find emotional and spiritual renewal governed the garden’s design”, explains Chris. Three interlocking pavilions inspired by the Japanese azumaya (summer house), with cut-out screens of oak leaf patterns and timber grids provide a private sanctuary, whilst framing the various vistas onto the woodland plants and the stillness of a canal. This rooftop Hortus Conclusis is a triumph in the fulfilment of its brief and once again confirms Chris’ deservedly unassailable reputation.

The gold medal winning L’Occitane garden is really a masterful reconstruction of a fragment of landscape – and one with particular significance to the brand. It was in the beautiful but harsh environment of Haute Provence, that that the 23 year old Olivier Baussan found a discarded old steam distiller and started producing essential oils from local rosemary and lavender. The garden – recreated by award-winning garden designer James Basson – is as much about what you can see as what you can’t. The design is so convincingly authentic in its conception and detailing of a dried stream bed surrounded by almond trees and local plant life at different stages of growth, that you can imagine the lavender fields, rolling hills and stunted woodland all around. The delicacy, restraint and lightness of touch is truly impressive, and in dramatic contrast to the show gardens that are designed and manicured to within an inch of their lives.

Escaping the stresses and strains of fast-paced modern life is the stated motivation for the Husqvarna Garden. This Australian city garden serves as quiet refuge in which to get away from it all. A square shaped sunken lawn is traversed by a gently moving rectangular water rill, while boxy topiary provides some shade. All this rigid geometry serves to bring the man-made order of the outside world crashing into the purportedly calm oasis of nature. Meanwhile on the far end – a floating cantilevered canopy with patterns referencing iconic Australian buildings, is the point from which to admire the changing theatre of the garden. And like most of these show gardens – with the obvious exception of the L’Occitane garden – change is very much the keynote, as these fantastically high maintenance creations have little to do with the natural life cycles of plants, let alone ‘nature’.

The so-called Artisan Gardens always produce some exceptional examples, and the unusual concept of Senri-Sentei’s Garage Garden, does not disappoint. This is described as a garden for an antique car enthusiast, with the planting designed to complement the vehicle. A two tier structure provides off road shelter for the car while its roof and flank is designed as a place for the family to relax. In expert Japanese fashion, an enormous amount is comfortably crammed into a tiny space. Colourful acers, bonsai and mossy mounds disguise the bulk of the structure, softening its impact and creating a paradisiacal fusion of nature and urbanism. This may be a tiny garden, but it’s a credit to the designer that it feels so expansive and deep, and is well deserving of its gold medal.

The floating gardens of the silk-weaving regions of Cambodia have inspired the Mekong Garden – awarded the prestigious accolade of Best Artisan Garden. This tiny 7 x 5 m garden is entirely water-based with a small deck leading to a floating lounger style on a traditional fishing boat. Shade is provided by a cantilevered canvas canopy overhead that references local silk weaving and the traditional fishing nets of the Mekong river. The floating beds follow the style of the region and contain an eclectic mix of fruit and vegetables all of which wouldn’t look out of place on the Mekong itself. The garden was designed by eight-times RHS gold medal winner Sarah Eberle, who fascinatingly lives on a farm and doesn’t have a garden herself.