Designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes. Inspired by the romance and style of celebrated 16th century Italian gardens, this Show Garden has been designed to create the ultimate aspirational lifestyle experience. To this day, Italian Renaissance gardens are held up as cornerstones of design.They are often seen as the pinnacle of luxury living and are used as backdrops for everything from fashion to film. The garden draws on this rich design heritage, bringing a hugely popular era to life.
The result is a formal, elegant haven, using plants found in northern Italy that also grow well in the UK. Inspired by key design elements from some of the major evolutions in garden design from the Early, Imperial and Late Renaissance periods, the garden includes clipped hedges, a rectangular still pool, a loggia, sculpture and a grotto waterfall. The effect is inspirational yet achievable with design details Chelsea visitors can recreate at home.
The planting is a fusion of Renaissance planting styles – from the Early Renaissance period of clipped tall hedges that created formal garden rooms to the Late Renaissance, where it was important to connect the garden with the wider landscape, resulting in wild and natural planting. The Renaissance Garden both revives and is inspired by classical garden design and planting styles, choosing plants authentically found in Italy, which grow easily in the UK too. The colour scheme and planting is intended to capture the harmonious balance of both the romantic atmosphere and formality found in the celebrated 16th century Italian gardens.
Clipped hedges and structural plants give the garden a formal feel, whilst soft lilac, purples, pinks and creamy white colours are picked up in the flowers and plants to create the romance associated with the Italian Renaissance. The Renaissance Garden draws inspiration from the Early Renaissance fashion of using clipped hedging to divide space and create garden rooms, using the native Italian plant, Box (Buxus sempervirens) and Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). Buxus is native to Italy and was used extensively in 16th century Italian gardens to divide space and create garden rooms.
Perennials
Trees & Hedging