We were thrilled to supply products to the Festival Theatre at RHS Malvern Flower Show. Ruth Gwynn Associates and Keyscapes Design & Construction built and designed the stage. It was sponsored by Great Little Breaks. We went to speak to the team about the challenges and successes of their build at RHS Malvern.

Festival Theatre hosted gardening experts

RHS Malvern is one of the largest flowers shows that take place over the spring and summer season. This year it featured a great collection of show gardens, plants and world-class speakers to entertain visitors. Because of this the Festival Theatre was at the heart of the show and hosted a fantastic line up of gardening experts.

In addition to RHS familiar-faces like Monty Don and Carol Klein the stage was also home to celebrity chefs, radio DJ’s and planting specialists.

Family holidays inspired the design of the stage

We experienced the theatre in full effect when we visited the show as the awards for the School Garden Challenge were being given out. The family friendly design of the stage made it the ideal setting for handing out the accolades.

We spoke to designer Ruth about what inspired the design of the project. She said, “We wanted to recreate an iconic UK holiday and thinking back to childhood memories it’s when you go to the beach and it’s full of sand, beach huts, shells and rock pools.”

Sand and shells were in abundance on the RHS Malvern Festival Theatre and the beach was complete with buckets, spades and sandcastles. The quality of sand is important and our Leisure Sand provides the best texture and feel that’s closest to true beach sand and it’s also safe for use by children.

Different sized decorative aggregates in the form of cobbles and boulders created the effect of rock pools. Ruth explained, “the smaller boulders worked well because you can just imagine that you’re there, in the rock pools on the beach.

Also the larger feature boulder on the stage was fantastic and gave the whole thing a sense of permanence.” They achieved a natural beach feeling by nestling the boulders in the sand and surrounding them will shells and planting.

Top tips for creating a beach garden

If you want to have a beach garden in your outdoor space then Ruth recommends the following tips:

1. Choose the right sand. Make sure the sand you buy is soft and textured like beach sand.
2. Use different sizes of pebbles and boulders. This will help the space feel more natural.
3. Try adding in shells and bits and pieces that remind you of the seaside.
4. Make sure you have fun, just go for it! If you have fun building it then you’ll enjoy spending time in it!

For an up-close look at the Festival Theatre at RHS Malvern, watch our video below!