Leeds City Councils 2007 Chelsea Flower Show Garden

Forward thinking Leeds City Council return to the Chelsea Flower Show in May 2007 with a garden inspired by the past. The garden will have a strong Yorkshire theme, utilising local materials but the major source of inspiration is drawn from the archaeological and historical evidence that exists of a Roman settlement in Leeds. The garden will be called ‘Scent of a Roman’ and is kindly being sponsored by Thorpe Park Developments Limited, a state of the art business park covering 270 acres and providing a million square feet of office space in East Leeds.

Most people think of Roman gardens as being very formalised and ornamental but early examples did not follow this style and were in fact functional spaces designed for food production, entertainment and quiet reflection. It is from this latter type of Roman garden that the Leeds City Council garden design team have taken their inspiration for Chelsea.

The design for the Chelsea Flower Show 2007 includes plant species that were introduced to the UK by the Romans for their scent, culinary and medicinal uses. Other native Yorkshire species will be interspersed with the Roman plants.

The garden will feature a meandering footpath of natural stone that travels through a series of terraces leading to an amphitheatre with a mosaic centre piece partially surrounded by dry stone walls. The journey ends at a grotto – a cool, calming space for contemplation and worship. Beyond the boundary is a mythical garden on the fringes of a woodland.

Sun loving plants such as choisya, euphorbia and geraniums will grace the entrance to the garden and in the shadier areas around the grotto will be damp tolerant species such as ferns, mosses, hostas and primulas. The Romans were responsible for introducing sage, thyme, cabbages, garlic and olives and such plants will feature throughout the garden, in the footpath and seating area to provide continuous scent as people walk through the garden. Continuing along the Roman theme, trees will include mulberry, sweet chestnut and walnut

The garden will be re-created in the city of Leeds after the show.

Yorkshire Roman Ruins Inspire
Leeds City Council’s 2007 Chelsea Flower Show Garden

The most important element of any garden is the plants and a Chelsea Flower Show Garden is no exception. Leeds City Council are one of only a handful of show garden exhibitors who grow most of their own plant material, all of which is sourced from their horticultural nursery in the city of Leeds. This year’s garden entitled ‘Scent of a Roman’ is sponsored by Thorpe Park Developments Limited, a state of the art business park covering 270 acres and providing a million square feet of office space in East Leeds.

With Yorkshire archaeological sites the major source of inspiration for the garden it is natural that local materials will be utilized, dry stone walls and mosaics made from Yorkshire stone will form the structure of the garden but it is the plants that will transform the garden into the Roman inspired sanctuary that it’s intended to be.

Contrary to popular opinion not all Roman gardens were formal and ornamental, in fact early examples were functional spaces designed for food production, entertainment and quiet reflection. The Leeds City Council Garden includes plant species introduced to the UK by the Romans for their scent, culinary and medicinal uses. Other native Yorkshire species will be interspersed with the Roman plants.

The garden design team has elected to experiment with Angelica sylvestris ‘Vicar’s Mead’, an unusual, highly architectural plant sporting dark purple foliage and a carrot like flower with fine cut leaves. Planted amongst the left hand border and behind the central planting area this will be a key plant for Leeds City Council’s ‘Scent of a Roman’ garden.

Grasses such as Carex buchanii, Deschampsia ‘Golden Dew’, Festuca glauca ‘ Blue Fox’, wild garlic Allium usinum, Fritilaria meleagris and F. palidiflora are used to create a natural frontage to the garden. Wild garlic will be displayed at different stages of growth to create different effects. The overall feel of the garden is very naturalistic and informal, almost cottage garden like with plenty of texture, flowers and foliage. Traditional English garden plants such as candelabra style Primula Japonica, P bulleyana and P beesiana which boasts up to six or seven whorls of crimson fading to orange flowers opening in succession up the flower stems.

The rosettes of leaves stay green throughout the winter. Primula beesiana is tall with purple-red flowers and stems that grow 50-60 cms high and flower in late spring or early summer. They prefer full sun or partial shade, and have a long life. The flowers are fragrant and require diligent watering. Digitalis puprurea, D. ferruginea, and D. grandiflora contribute to the colour and form mix.

Near the grotto is a woodland fringe containing bulbous woodland plants such as Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Eremurus himalaicus, E. robustus and E. stenophyllus. The colour range is from creamy white to burnt orange. A selection of Hostas from the National Collection will occupy the shadier, damp areas. Ferns will play a key role in this garden, and a seeping ‘Fern Wall’ has been created to provide an unusual feature. Trees come in the shape of Olea europaea (European olive) and Betula utitlis (Himalayan Birch) and to create the woodland fringe the tall Italian Pencil Cyprus, Cupressus sempervirens pyramidalis, the effect of which is to enhance the stone pillars and thereby the lines so essential to Roman symmetry.

Where meadow moves into cultivated bed at the front of the garden the edible plants will be included in the mix. Herbs, carrots, parsnips, cabbage and kale will be planted along with selected ornamentals arranged for decorative effect, and to link areas of the garden. The Romans were responsible for introducing sage, thyme, cabbages, garlic and olives and are thus important to the Roman interpretation element of the garden. Used for flavour and medicine in Roman times they are still used in similar ways. The Garden team at Leeds City Council also want to show visitors how to introduce vegetables into a garden without having a formal vegetable garden.

The garden will be re-created in the city of Leeds after the show.