Project Info
Project Description
The Still Garden – Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal 2022
Jane Porter, a Garden Designer from Bristol, first got in touch with me in January of this year to ask if I was interested in getting involved with a garden installation at the Chelsea Flower show in 2022. I’ve never had the opportunity to build at Chelsea before and jumped at the chance. It had been a bucket-list thing for me, and I was pleased to have been asked.
With a stone backdrop of vertically laid stones, it was a stunning design. The verticals were to recreate the many harbours of the west coast of Scotland which are built this way. The stone work was also to be built so that it looked like two converging hills seen from a distance.
The Build
I sorted nearly 8 tonnes of slate from the defunct Craiglea quarry at Logiealmond estate in Perthshire. We loved the look and feel of the stone, especially when it is wet. The stone was a lovely texture, and building in verticals created lovely shapes and shadows.
Over three long days in mid-May, Euan Thompson aka the Stone Dyker and I built the walls. After that Jane and her team did an amazing job on the planting use old whisky barrels and a copper still.
Jane’s garden was awarded a gold medal and best balcony/container garden at this years show. This was quite an achievement for a first time garden designer and a privilege for me to be involved in helping create it as lead dry stone waller.
Feedback from Jane Porter, Garden Designer of The Still Garden
Absolutely fantastic working with Jason. His knowledge and skill in his craft surpassed what I’d hoped to achieve and as a result the garden the wall was awarded a gold medal and ‘Best in Category’ at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022.