RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival - July 2022

This year we are delighted to have showcased a piece of our inner city oasis at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, the world-renowned flower show. We wanted to inspire visitors to reimagine what the Story Garden feels like, with the different elements and layers of stories that are created in the garden. Built for, and by, the local community. 

Our inspiration was to bring a sample of the things we grow at the Story Garden, so the plants we added included: two small apple trees, several decorative salvias, tomatoes, squash, climbing beans, red amaranth, salad leaves, jostaberries and a wide variety of herbs.

It took many different hands to create and contribute to make the design come together. Each group added different skills and worked collectively.

COMMUNITY GROWERS

The community growers planted their seeds for a very different experience this year, as they waited and watched the plants flourish to become well established ready for the grand exhibition.

Some of the Bangladeshi plants that were featured were: lal Shak (Red Amaranth), Lau other name Khodu (Bottle Gourd Squash), Naga - Chilli, Morich (chilli), Uri (Hyacinth Bean)

They worked together sharing tips and support in excitement. For many it was a great opportunity to celebrate and promote their edible plants from their own motherland Bangladesh where agriculture for many is still the way of life. The growers worked as a group planning and thinking creatively, and learning new design skills, while each still taking ownership of their plants.

“I really enjoyed sharing my traditional country plant “Khodu” Bangladeshi squash. I was pleased to take my family to share the experience of joy. I hope this has inspired my daughter and my niece. I would love to be part of an exhibition again.” — Community Grower

TWILIGHT GARDENERS

The Twilight Gardeners are a dedicated group of volunteers who visit the Story Garden every Wednesday evening throughout the changing seasons, helping with whatever activities are happening, including seed sowing, planting, pruning, mulching and the ever-present…weeding!

For several sessions this summer they had a special assignment in the form of helping our Hampton Court garden come to life, contributing another thread to the tapestry of making the installation happen. The Twilight Gardening group helped with positioning the planters, filling them with plants and maintaining the area so it was in tip-top condition for its moment in the spotlight. Since the planters returned to the Story Garden they have also continued to care for it so it forms a vibrant addition to the community space.

“To reach Hampton Court its a real achievement.”

“Its like watching magic the magic of growing from a seed.”

BBC

We had the BBC come and visit the garden to film the journey showcasing the story of the installation and all the people making it happen. We were featured on the TV programme Gardeners’ World, which was a great opportunity to get our story out into the wider world, reaching many different audiences on a different platform.

You can watch us on BBC iPlayer - Gardeners’ World 2022: Episode 17 (about 30 minutes in)

WEAVING

We created several pieces of woven fabric for the Hampton Court installation, which celebrate the story of the wider community we reach through weekly sessions and yearly events. The Story Garden is an educational garden as well as a space of creativity and wellbeing, engaging local people of different backgrounds and ages.

It took thousands of hands to weave the woven fabrics. We created one woven piece which hung from the willow trellis along one side of the installation. This piece reused fabric scraps, finding a new purpose for them. In addition, two 70-inch woven pieces were made using plastic bags as yarn to share awareness of plastic waste. They were wrapped around the apple tree pots.

While the hands were busy weaving, stories were unfolding and conversations about the origins of weaving was the hot topic. Most people could relate it back to their country of origin, family history or school days.

“I was mesmerised in the rhythm of weaving it was very calming.”

Many thanks to the event and session that helped make the fabrics:

• Family Saturdays

• Discovery Day at the Francis Crick Institute

• Clean Air Day

• Womens Coffee Morning

• Walker House residents - Eid Party

INSTALLATION DAY

Early on Friday morning, with the help from some of the wonderful Skanska team, we loaded the planters and plants onto the truck that would take them from the Story Garden down to Hampton Court for installation. It was a nail-biting drive watching the apple trees and tomato plants swaying precariously in the wind in the truck ahead of us. After we arrived at the site and unloaded the truck, checking the plants for any damage (there was none, phew!), we got to have a quick look around at the other plots we would be surrounded by. It was great to see the gardens coming together and get to know more about the community groups behind these spaces.

For me, it felt so good to be out of the office and see first hand the hard work the team had been doing, designing, building, planting and maintaining this little snapshot of our gardens for all of the visitors to the garden festival to see.

- Sarah, Operations Manager

DAY TRIP TO THE GARDEN FESTIVAL

The day of the visit was very nice as the community growers and twilight gardeners travelled together, an opportunity uniting them through the love of growing. It was great for them to meet as they generally don’t visit the Story Garden at the same time. Everyone was so excited to share stories of their involvement. As they drew near the Story Garden installation it was a proud moment with smiling faces all round.

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Notes from the Garden