The Garden That Started Working Before We’d Finished It

Last week was a very special one for me as we officially opened the new Community Garden at Aldingbourne Country Centre, a garden I have had the absolute privilege of designing and helping to bring to life with Earth Cycle.

It was such a lovely afternoon. Seeing everyone together, seeing the garden being enjoyed and, most importantly, seeing the reaction of the people it has actually been created for was quite emotional.

Those of you who know me will know that I love making a speech. I love telling a story and explaining the meaning behind the things I create, because so often there is so much more to a garden than simply what you can see.

And this garden has a particularly important story.

So I wanted you all to hear the speech I gave at the opening, because I really want you to understand what this garden means to me and why, despite all the gardens I have been lucky enough to design and build over the years, this one feels like some of my most important work.

For those of you who weren't lucky enough to be there with us on that lovely afternoon, here are my words...

Good afternoon everyone,

Firstly, thank you so much for inviting me to be part of today.

I have to say, I feel incredibly proud and actually quite emotional to be celebrating the opening of this garden.

I have been very lucky over the years to design and build lots of gardens. I've created gardens for shows, for brands, for businesses and for people's homes. I've worked on gardens where every plant has been chosen to look perfect and where I've probably spent far too long worrying about whether something is three inches too far to the left!

But I can genuinely say that this garden has been some of the most important and rewarding work I have ever done.

Because this garden was never simply about making somewhere look beautiful.

It was about creating somewhere that could make people feel good.

And there is a very big difference.

I have always been passionate about the incredible effect that gardening and being outdoors can have on both our physical and mental wellbeing. Getting our hands in the soil, growing something, nurturing something, noticing the seasons changing, being outside in the fresh air, working alongside other people or simply finding somewhere quiet to sit.

Gardens give us so much more than plants.

They give us purpose. They give us connection. They give us confidence. They give us something to look forward to. And sometimes they give us somewhere to just be.

That was at the heart of this garden from the very beginning.

I wanted to create a space where the people supported by Aldingbourne could grow, learn, experiment, eat, laugh, sit, chat, get their hands dirty and hopefully discover some of the joy that I have found in gardens throughout my own life.

But something rather unexpected happened while we were building it.

The garden started doing its job before we'd even finished it.

There have been moments during this project when clients have come into the space and I've watched their faces light up.

And I can't really describe how that feels as a designer.

Because suddenly you stop worrying about whether every plant is in exactly the right place or whether you've got enough compost in a bed.

You look at somebody smiling and you think, "Yes. That's it. That's what we're building."

And for me, that has made every bit of hard work worthwhile.

I talk a lot through my work about the idea of Grow, Harvest, Cook and Share, because I believe growing food and flowers can bring people together in the most wonderfully simple way.

You don't have to be an expert gardener.

You don't even have to be particularly good at gardening.

Gardens don't judge. Seeds don't care who planted them.

And there is something incredibly empowering about putting a tiny seed into the ground, looking after it and eventually being able to say, "I grew that."

My hope is that this garden becomes full of those moments.

I hope things are grown and eaten here. I hope flowers are picked and given to people. I hope there are cups of tea, conversations and friendships. I hope people learn new skills, experiment and discover things they didn't know they could do.

And I hope there are a few gardening disasters too, because that's how we learn!

Most importantly, I hope this garden never feels too precious.

Please use it.

Because a garden isn't really finished on the day you cut the ribbon.

Today is actually just the beginning.

From here, this garden belongs to the people who use it. It will evolve with them, and I hope that in a year's time it looks different to the garden we've created today, because that will mean it has been lived in and loved.

I also want to say an enormous thank you to everyone who has helped make this happen.

A garden like this might begin with a design on a piece of paper, but it takes an extraordinary amount of generosity, hard work, digging, carrying, planting, watering, problem solving and cups of tea to turn that drawing into a real place.

To everyone who has donated, supported, volunteered, planted, dug, built, encouraged or simply believed in what we were trying to create, thank you.

And to everyone here at Aldingbourne, thank you for trusting me with this space.

You have reminded me of something incredibly important.

The best gardens aren't necessarily the ones that win medals.

They're not the ones with the most expensive plants or the perfectly clipped hedges.

The very best gardens are the ones that make people's lives a little bit better.

So if this garden can provide a place where someone feels calmer, happier, more confident, more connected or simply has a really good day, then I think we have created something very special indeed.

I may have designed this garden, but I think this garden has taught me quite a lot too.

And I will always be incredibly proud to have been a small part of its story.

So here's to getting our hands dirty, growing things, sharing things, learning things and, most importantly, spreading a little more joy.

Thank you, and welcome to the garden.

xxx