Tue 10th Jul 2018
by Hosta Consulting
RHS Young Designer of the Year Finalist, Eds Higgins celebrates the hidden charm of brownfield sites within the show garden entitled ‘Finding [urban] Nature’ (F[u]N), featuring at RHS Flower Show Tatton Park from the 18th-22nd July 2018.
Life NewsDaring visitors to see the value of these urban habitats, the garden highlights the benefits to mental health and wellbeing, wildlife and community cohesion.
Inspired by a brownfield site in central Nottingham, which was once a delight of flowers in summer - and now a car park - as well as a childhood of building dens, this garden shows how a little joy can be brought to unloved, but valuable derelict spaces. The informal garden features naturalised urban plant species, a social area with a scaffolding pavilion, as well as an allotment space full of fruit and vegetables, creating a community garden full of playfulness and charm.
Visitors will be familiar of some of the plants within the garden including Buddleja, a mainstay of railway sidings, and will be able to explore unfamiliar species found on brownfield sites.
Finding [urban] Nature imagines the potential of social spaces in cities for their importance in reconnecting with childhood pleasures and coexisting with nature. The Garden raises important awareness of environmental sustainability. In recognition of the fragility of soil (It takes 500 years to make an inch of fragile topsoil), the garden makes use of urban construction materials such as crushed aggregate consisting of brick, concrete, and the occasional toilet.
“I hope my garden reflects my passion for brownfield sites and visitors get an opportunity to see them as valuable habitats for bees and butterflies, and to see the beauty amongst the rubble.”
Eds HigginsAbout the show
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park, which celebrates its own milestone of 20 years in 2018, has cemented itself as a pioneer of new talent, with previous RHS Young Designer finalists going on to create gardens at the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show and other recognised horticultural platforms.
About the designer
Eds Higgins is an Architectural and Landscape Designer, Illustrator and Architecture Tutor at the University of Nottingham. He read Architecture to Masters level at the University of Nottingham, where his dissertation ‘Changing Urban Nature, using the Biophilia Hypothesis’ explored the benefits exposure to nature has on our lives.
Eds currently works at Hosta Consulting, an Urban Landscape design practice based in Nottingham, creating functional urban gardens with human-nature interaction at their heart. Past projects include community gardens, green roof gardens and large public parks. His garden design ‘A Drop of Urban Green’ won a RHS Gold Medal and Best Back-to-Back at Tatton Park 2016.
RHS Flower Show Tatton Park will run from 18 – 22 July. Tickets can be bought at www.rhs.org.uk/tatton
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