The Beautiful Abandonment Garden

The garden was designed by the Blue Diamond team working with the Soil Association Charity to raise awareness of nature-friendly gardening.

It is a celebration of the wonder of nature and the beauty of abandoned buildings. At the 2022 RHS Hampton Court Flower Show it won a Silver Gilt Medal. It is a wildlife-friendly garden that focuses on taking a discussed part of land and repurposes the structures left behind to create an outdoor living space especially suitable for a family.

A stone wall from an old farm building forms the backdrop and a bespoke pergola, build from reclaimed oak, frames the family seating area. The garden is designed with sustainability in mind demonstrating how abandoned buildings or unused spaces can be repurposed into functional, and beautiful spaces.

Highlights

Our Garden Designer recommends you look out for these stunning plants:

The garden is a celebration of nature and includes a diversity of wild and cultivated plants to attract birds, insects and mammals.

Trees such as Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ with its dramatic foliage famed for spectacular autumn colour. The purple heart- shaped leaves turn red and yellow in the autumn and colourful growth reappears in the spring with clusters of bright pink flowers. Astrantia 'Buckland' also known as Greater Masterwort which has nectar and pollen rich flowers.

The slender erect stems of Gaura lindheimeri ‘White Gaura’, which bear small lance-shaped leaves and white or pink-tinged flowers, which give the appearance of butterflies floating in the garden. Sanguisorba ‘Proud Mary’, with its tall spikes of fluffy maroon- red flowers through the summer and into the autumn. All these plants are loved by bees and other pollinators.

A garden designed with wildlife and sustainability in mind...

Plants to look out for...

Click on a plant to find out more:

Sanguisorba ‘Proud Mary’

Growing to just under 1 metre, this herbaceous perennial has slender stems bearing fluffy, maroon-red flowers through the summer and well into the autumn and they are very attractive to pollinators. It thrives in full sun, in a well-drained soil.

Gaura lindheimeri

Common Name: White Gaura. Growing to just over 1 metre tall, it is a bushy perennial with a long flowering season. It has slender, erect stems bearing small lance-shaped leaves and white or pink-tinged flowers from the summer to the autumn. These pretty flowers give the appearance of butterflies floating in the garden. It is best suited to a sunny position in well-drained soil.

Astrantia 'Buckland'

Common Name: Greater Masterwort. Growing to just under 1 metre, Astrantia is a clump-forming, herbaceous perennial which is known for attracting bees, butterflies, moths and other pollinators. It has nectar and pollen rich pin-cushion like flowers, which appear on stems from June to August. It will thrive in partial shade and prefers a moist soil.

Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’

Common name: Redbud. A multi-stemmed tree which will grow up to 8 metres in height. It has dramatic foliage famed for spectacular autumn colour. The purple heart- shaped leaves turn red and yellow in the autumn and colourful growth reappears in the spring with clusters of bright pink flowers. Best planted in full sun or partial shade.