Online Garden Tools
Useful videos
Show Garden: The Blue Diamond Group Beautiful Abandonment Garden
The garden inspired by an abandoned space featuring remains for an old wall or out-building, re-purposing these and bringing these back to life.
The Blue Diamond Group, the UK’s second largest Garden Centre Group, is delighted to announce that it will be creating a Show Garden at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival (4th to 9th July inclusive), and in addition will have a display of their own brand Fryer’s Roses and selling area in the Festival of Roses Marquee.
The Blue Diamond Beautiful Abandonment Garden is a collaborative design by the team at Blue Diamond, inspired by Anna King, Lead Designer and project managed by Anna and Jill Kerr, the Group’s Events Manager.
The Garden includes a diversity of wild and cultivated plants to attract birds, bees, pollinators, other insects and mammals. Plants in the garden are UK grown with many coming from Blue Diamond’s own Bridgemere Nursery based in Nantwich, Cheshire.
This garden celebrates the wonder of nature and the beauty of abandoned buildings. A wildlife friendly garden that focuses on taking a disused part of land and repurposing the structures left behind to create an outdoor living space especially suitable for a family. An old farm building has left its mark in this garden, leaving behind a stone wall with original features, forming the backdrop to this repurposed space.
A bespoke pergola built from reclaimed oak, frames the family seating area, providing character, a sense of age & shade from the sun. The journey through the garden allows visitors to discover different view-points of the naturalistic planting with unintentional pockets and the architectural forms of the trees, stone and wooden structure.
This garden is designed with sustainability in mind as we move away from a throwaway society, demonstrating how abandoned buildings or unused areas can be repurposed into functional and beautiful spaces.
The Blue Diamond Group are also working closely with Bee Expert, Michael Thick and have installed 10 bee hives to date in Blue Diamond Garden Centres (2 each in Bicester, Harlow, Coton Orchard, Bridgemere and Springfields), with another 10 planned in 5 more of their centres. They hope to install live feeds in these centres from the hives, and will continue to educate visitors to their centres and website about bees and what they can do to help them.
Blue Diamond is proud to partner with the Soil Association, the charity joining forces with nature for a better future – a world with good health, in balance with nature, and a safe climate. Working with everyone to transform the way we garden, eat, farm and care for our natural world, the Soil Association build real solutions from the ground up. They research, campaign, and work with communities on the ground to learn, share, and grow better together.
Plant List
Shrubs
 |
 |
 |
Perennials
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Ferns
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Grasses
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Herbs
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Trees
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sun and Drought tolerant plants
|
|
|
 |
Undergrowth and Stone Plants
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Climbers
 |
Annuals
 |
 |