Garden Festival at RHS Hampton Court to spotlight a completely peat-free garden setup
Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival to Feature Two Striking Gardens
The Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, set to run from 2-7 July 2024, will showcase two captivating gardens that are sure to inspire garden enthusiasts.
Firstly, 'The Free Garden' is the brainchild of gardening influencer Anya Lautenbach (@anya_thegarden_fairy). This garden aims to demonstrate how to create beautiful gardens without breaking the bank. Anya suggests that over 300 plants can be propagated annually in an existing garden, leading to significant savings.
Joining forces with RHS Ambassador and plantsman Jamie Butterworth, 'The Free Garden' will feature more than 2000 annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees, all sourced from peat-free growers. The garden will also showcase a variety of water-saving techniques, including two large water butts to collect rainwater from the greenhouse and channel it into a wildlife-friendly water feature and rain garden.
In a separate garden, Arit Anderson, a British garden designer, TV presenter, and author, will present the 100-percent peat-free 'RHS Peat-Free Garden'. Known for her work on BBC's Gardeners' World, Arit aims to empower gardeners and the industry to bring about change regarding the use of peat. The RHS Peat-Free Garden at Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is a testament to this commitment.
The 'RHS Peat-Free Garden' will host talks and workshops on the origins of growing mediums like compost, mulch, and soil improvers, as well as advice on peat-free sowing, propagating, and watering. Arit recognises the challenges designers face with residual traces of peat in plants and notes that the RHS is working to address this issue.
The garden's naturalistic planting mimics an untouched peatland and transitions into a domestic garden with shady and sun-loving borders. All materials used in the design have been recycled, including a greenhouse made from old windows, borrowed paving, old railway sleepers, and a disused beehive turned into an insect hotel.
While 'The Free Garden' does not focus on using only peat-free compost, it shares the same ethos of sustainability and cost-effectiveness. The garden does not involve a total ban on peat in gardening, as such a ban is not scheduled until 2030.
Visitors to the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival will have the opportunity to learn from these two inspiring gardens, each offering unique insights into creating beautiful, sustainable, and cost-effective gardens.
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