Our first Chelsea Flower Show
We have been doing the RHS Chelsea Flower Show since 2012. Our first year was a big leap into unfamiliar territory. We sponsored our very own Artisan garden, designed and built by Chelsea old hands Woolcott and Smith, with hard landscaping by Conway Landscapes. It was a fascinating experience and we won a silver medal. We made a scaled down shepherd’s hut, a design we called the Writer’s Hut to sit neatly in the layout.
Since then we have had a trade-stand in the Artisan area, in Ranelagh Gardens. Over the years we have exhibited various shepherd’s hut designs from our traditional Snugs to garden kitchen designs. It is always interesting to try to broadly represent the range of what we do.
One year we did a striking copper coloured hut, with a small deck on the end, which was well received and ended up as an Airbnb in the Cotswolds.
Preparing for Chelsea
The logistics of taking a shepherd’s hut into London is always exciting, and we enjoy taking our small part of Dorset into the busy capital for a week.
It really is one of the World’s best garden shows, and in normal years visitors come from across the globe to see it. I’m always fascinated to meet visitors from America and even Australia who have flown in just to visit what they see as the greatest show on earth.
The most striking thing about the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the horticultural theatre of the show gardens. Seeing green lawns turned into a lock keeper’s garden, complete with a canal, or swimming pool based garden with a stone cottage next to it is just fascinating.
We look forward to seeing you there this year if you are going, and really hope you have a great day. You can book your tickets here if you haven’t done so already.
This year, at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, we will be launching the new RHS Bothy which will be on display in the Great Pavilion. This new design takes inspiration from the shepherd’s hut, and also draws upon influences such as the caravan in Danny the Champion of the World, and even the 1920’s Bournemouth Tram that Richard uses as his office. On our trade stand down in Ranelagh gardens we will have a 20′ Cabin, complete with bedroom, kitchen and shower room.
