About the garden

RHS Malvern Spring Festival is set to captivate visitors with an innovative feature garden titled ‘Grain to Garden’. This imaginative installation is a collaboration between Pershore-based TASK Training Academy, esteemed landscaper Rupert Keys (Founder & Managing Director of TASK Training Academy) and renowned designer Cherry Carmen.

Central to the ‘Grain to Garden’ exhibit are three repurposed grain silos, each approximately 4 meters in diameter and 5 meters in height. These silos are ingeniously transformed to offer distinct interactive experiences: one will serve as a bar, another will feature a disco ball and lighting for a vibrant atmosphere, and the third will provide a tranquil chill-out space complete with a fire-pit.

Surrounding these silos, the garden will be designed with a naturalistic aesthetic, featuring wildflowers, a serene pond, and meandering pathways, creating a harmonious blend of industrial elements and natural beauty. Rupert Keys, who is also mentoring new show garden designers at the festival, remarked, “It will be a fun and exciting space to walk through”.

In alignment with the 2025 festival theme, Plants & People, which explores the myriad ways plants impact our lives. ‘Grain to Garden’ exemplifies the innovative use of reclaimed industrial materials to craft engaging and meaningful garden spaces.

About the designers

Cherry Carmen is an award-winning garden designer and horticultural consultant. In a short time, she has won accolades, recognition and widespread industry respect. 

She has won two medals at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, Gold at the BBC Gardeners World 50th Anniversary Show and was invited to design the Association of Professional Landscapers’ feature garden in 2018. 

Cherry is known for her edgy designs and distinctive planting style. She’s often helped other designers plant their show gardens at the UK’s major flower shows.

With over 30 years’ experience in the landscape and construction industry, Rupert Keys is recognised as one of the leading lights in the UK’s landscape and training industry.

Having worked his way from the ground up, from a labouring gardener in Cheltenham Parks Department, to studying Horticulture at Pershore and for the last three decades running the highly successful business Keyscape Design & Construction, delivering gardens and landscape schemes natiionwide, Rupert Keys knows the landscape industry inside and out.

During his career Rupert has used his expertise to build over 50 award-winning show gardens at some of the UK’s leading gardening events, including his first ever RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden in 1992, when he caught the bug!