Looking for ideas and inspiration for your garden? We went to take a look at the Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth to get some gardening tips.

This garden not only won a Gold Medal but also received ‘Best In Show’ ‘Best Construction’ and ‘People’s Choice Award’. It is the only garden in RHS history to receive all these medals!

The Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth is inspired by the work that John Wedgwood did in botany and horticulture. Also John Wedgwood was a founding member of the RHS as well as being the eldest son of Josiah Wedgwood.

Between 1800-1812 John Wedgwood rejoined the family pottery firm in Staffordshire and proposed the beginning of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804. During this time the firm introduced the delicate blue-printed ware with its iconic botanical underglaze.

Designer of the Wedgwood Garden, Jamie Butterworth has drawn inspiration from John Wedgwood’s involvement in both the RHS and the historic Wedgwood brand. But what ideas did we take from the garden that you could use at home?

Put Social at the Centre

One of our favourite things about the garden was how the table and benches are at the heart of the garden. This encourages socialising and installs a feeling of community.

Uniformity of Materials

We asked Jamie how he would re-create the garden in his own home. He said “use the same colours and materials across the garden because it brings the whole garden together.” In essence, interior should lead seamlessly into the exterior.

Our self-binding gravel Goldpath chosen for the surfacing, was used throughout the garden. It helped to create a harmonious flow through the space.

Use Pockets of Bright Colours

Intersperse dense green foliage with bright colours. By using pockets of colour from one or multiple plants you can draw the eye to different features in your garden. Choose trees and flowers of different heights to split colour across different levels. The Lauren’s Grape poppies used in the garden works perfectly for height and colour.

Go For Low Maintenance

Design paths, seating and planting areas to maximise impact with sustainable effort. Your garden should not require continuous work. It is intended for enjoyment, year after year.

Use flowers like Perennials, Delphiniums and Foxgloves which offer many seasons of flowering. These flowers also aid pollination from flower-loving insects.

Decorative aggregates are an ideal ground covering for the low maintenance garden. This is because they are easy to lay and don’t require much upkeep.

Keep It Simple

The water feature and table in the garden both showcase the beauty of simple design. With their strong steel bridge frames, elegant brickwork and muted colour palette, these spaces champion simplicity.

Stone Warehouse have been pleased to support the Wedgwood Garden at RHS Chatsworth 2019. For this project were happy to donate our Goldpath self binding gravel and thank designer Jamie Butterworth and the build team from Keyscape Design & Construction for including us in the project.

We hope you have drawn some inspiration from the Wedgwood Garden. Want to find out more about this exciting project? Check out our RHS Chatsworth: The Show Diaries blog here. You can also watch our video below which features an interview with the designer himself, Jamie Butterworth.