The Porsche Garden

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 8th - 13th July 2008

The Porsche Garden demonstrates how an environmentally conscious urban dweller could combine a contemporary front garden with secure off-street parking.

Located in front of a typical London home, the garden hides a surprise - underneath its surface lies an underground parking system. The design comes to life as a section of the garden is raised in the air, and a car emerges from the earth ready to be driven away. The garden also features innovative living walls to reduce dust and noise levels, and log stack walls to offer a home to local wildlife.

This garden highlights the continuing disappearance of urban front gardens, so many of which are being paved over to provide off-road parking. We have lost an area estimated at around 12 square miles (or 22 Hyde Parks) in London alone. This affects the appearance of our streets, increases the urban heat island effect, raises the likelihood of subsidence and heightens the risk of localised flooding due to excessive water run-off.

Conceptual Garden - Ceci n'est pas un jardin

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 8th - 13th July 2008

Referencing the work of artists Fischli and Weiss, Magritte and Duchamp, this installation challenges the definition of a garden, and creates a sense of theatre.

One half of the garden is exquisitely finished and has a Mediterranean theme. The other half, however, is a work in progress. The builders' radio is still playing, the pond is still being filled and the cement mixer is still going. Can it be classified as a garden if it is unfinished, or can we still find aesthetic merit in the suspended nature of the installation?

The Fallen

Last years Hampton Court gold medal winning garden 'The Fallen' has been bought by the RHS and is currently on display at RHS Hyde Hall in Essex.

More than one in five native wildflower species in the British Isles is considered nationally threatened, with every county losing on average one species each year. The Fallen represents a cemetery for plants that are now extinct within the British Isles, and each headstone bears the name of a lost species.

The symmetrical layout,created with Portland headstones, is punctuated by streams of wild meadow planting and strips of lush green turf. The simple colour scheme produces a gentle haze of colour, adding to the tranquil and reflective atmosphere,and encouraging the viewer to contemplate the species lost so far and to ponder the fate of those that are on the brink.

Designers: Sim Flemons & John Warland

Contractor: Piece of Green