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The HESCO Garden

Designed by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside. The garden draws attention to the importance of waterpower in the industrial evolution of Leeds. There are working examples of this process in two key public visitor attractions: Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills and Thwaite Mills.

The HESCO Garden by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside Chelsea Flower Show 2011

The garden style is reflective of a semi-natural setting incorporating cultivated ornamental trees, shrubs and perennials along with native species.The main feature takes its inspiration from a mill. A six-metre facade is set against a rockwork escarpment that feeds a working waterwheel. A large mill pool adds to the setting and planting is chosen to reflect how carefully selected cultivate plants can provide a sympathetic and attractive balance of colour.

The HESCO Garden by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Three specimens of Thuja plicata, which stand at almost nine metres in height,  are positioned around the mill façade providing scale and drama, and a solid backdrop to help screen the floral marquee. Nothofagus and Acer campestre, soften this screen as is extends to the left front of the garden, and where cultivated plants merge into native or near native species.

The HESCO Garden by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Parthenocissus and Lonicera have been extensively used to soften the mill façade and provide a more natural fill for the boundaries. Clematis montana adds colour and character, formed into a mound of growth again linking the cultivated with the natural planting. Azaleas will provide accents of colour to punctuate the woodland planting, whilst native plants will extend around the pond and front of the garden, giving a somewhat natural feel.

The HESCO Garden by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Ferns will be used to compliment the planting and especially in shady woodland and in crevices on the rockwork. The colour pallet is complimentary to our somewhat natural planting style, and whilst incorporating a range of colours that are in some cases bright in their own right, when carefully positioned and softened by neutral colours and textured foliage they portray a natural relaxing feel with occasional accents of colour to stimulate our enquiring minds.

The HESCO Garden by Leeds City Council, Parks and Countryside Chelsea Flower Show 2011

Pinks, blues, yellows, whites and pastel tones soften the character of strong dramatic specimen trees.

Plants list   

Ornamental Area

Ferns

Asplenium scolopendrium
Dryopteris affinis
Athyrium filix-femina
Dryopteris erythrosora
Polystichum setiferum
Matteuccia struthiopteris

Trees

Acer campestre
Nothofagus antarctica
Thuja plicata

 

Shrubs

Sambucus nigra f. porphyrophylla 'Black Lace'
Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris

 

Woodland and Ornamental Plants

Digitalis x mertonensis
Astrantia major subsp. involucrata 'Shaggy'
Salvia nemorosa 'Lubecca'
Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost'
Filipendula purpurea
Acanthus hirsutus
Anemone nemorosa 'Leeds' Variety'
Verbascum bombyciferum
Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum'
Salvia x sylvestris 'Dear Anja'
Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Karmina'
Anthriscus sylvestris
Mertensia virginica
Deschampsia flexuosa
Rodgersia pinnata
Geranium macrorrhizum
Geranium ibericum
Allium neapolitanum 'Grandiflorum'

 

Natural area

Trees

Acer campestre
Crataegus monogyna

Shrubs

Viburnum opulus
Salix purpurea 'Nana'

 

Damp and natural

Ajuga reptans
Carex pendula
Geranium sanguineum
Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum'
Alchemilla erythropoda
Luzula nivea
Geum rivale
Lychnis flos-cuculi 'White Robin'
Persicaria bistorta
Achillea ptarmica
Aquilegia vulgaris
Euphorbia amygdaloides
Geranium sylvaticum

 

Pond/Margin

Caltha palustris
Iris pseudacorus
Hosta sieboldiana var. elegans
Myosotis scorpioides
Primula florindae
Butomus umbellatus
Menyanthes trifoliata
Filipendula ulmaria
Iris sibirica 'Alba'
Camassia quamash
Nymphaea alba
Primula x bulleesiana
Juncus inflexus

 

Path edges

Geranium robertianum

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