City Garden AOA Corporation Ltd GOLD MEDAL

This small garden enclosed by walls of green is designed to evoke peaceful childhood memories for those living a hectic urban lifestyle. The garden encourages people to engage with their present as well as to remind them of peaceful places spent in their childhood.

The walls of the garden are covered with plants that indicate its secluded and private nature. Small windows in these green walls allow visitors to glimpse a Japanese water garden beyond.

Designer Kazuyuki Ishihara believes that living an urban lifestyle can cause people to lose touch with nature and that plants can re-connect them to the seasons. Japanese seasonal plants are featured in this garden, including Pinus sylvestris and Acer palamatum. The use of this planting alongside eroded sandstone features and water expresses the passage of time and harmony with nature.

The planting is inspired by the designer’s own childhood memories of growing up in Nagasaki, Japan and includes many plants of Japanese origin, such as Farfugium japonicum, Ophiopgon japonicus, Pachysandra terminalis and Iris sanguinea.

Kazuyuki Ishihara returns to Chelsea for the third time following his Best in Show win in the Chic Garden category in 2006.