About the garden

The garden reflects a walk around the Cotswolds, but rather than a landscape in miniature, it is an ornamental garden that takes inspiration from many of the quintessential aspects of the area.

The covered seating area is designed around a church lychgate, and the water feature represents a stone-sided watercourse with a ford crossing, beside which will be a bench designed to look like a stone footbridge.

One end of the garden will be planted with some semi-mature beech trees and underplanted with woodland plants, mimicking the ancient beech woodlands found in the area.

When sitting in the covered area, a diamond-shaped water feature will frame the garden while spilling water out onto a waterwheel.

Who or what is the design inspiration for the garden?

The features and landscape of the Cotswolds.

Who is this garden for?

Anyone who enjoys walking in the countryside

Where is the garden set?

The Cotswolds

Key take away from the garden

An appreciation for the beauty of the Cotswolds, causing them to look more closely next time they go for a walk in the countryside.

Highlights or themes to notice/know

The ford-style water feature will double up as a splash pool, allowing users to dip their feet in the cool water while sitting on the bench. Historically the Cotswolds acquired the majority of its wealth from the wool trade, and so some of the plants have been chosen to reference this, including Stachys byzantina (lamb’s ears) and other woolly plants such as Buddleia ‘Morning Mist’.

Where will the garden be relocated?

Although the garden will not be repurposed as a whole, almost all aspects will be reused in some form.

Sustainability

Sustainable building methods, materials or technologies used to help minimise the garden’s environmental impact

A significant number of our plants have been recovered from clients’ gardens – generally this is either because they are in the wrong place, not wanted, or have been suffering from neglect, and so the clients have wanted them removed despite there being no underlying disease.

Ways the garden promotes environmental responsibility /sustainability

Reduced carbon footprint by sourcing materials locally.

Plants

There will be around 300 individual plants within the garden, supplied by various nurseries.

 Five key plants 

• Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ (lamb’s ears) – Woolly foliage to represent the wool trade on which the Cotswolds was built.
• Acer campestre (field maple) – A large specimen removed from a client’s garden and re-shaped, representing native, road-side planting.
• Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ (Korean lilac) – A large specimen that was also used in the company’s 50th anniversary show garden.
• Semi-mature Fagus sylvatica (common beech) – To represent the ancient beech woodlands of the Cotswolds.
• Hyacinthoides non-scripta (bluebell) – To represent underplanting in the ancient beech woodlands of the Cotswolds.

Plant lists are provided by the designer of the garden as a guide to the plants they hope to use in the garden based on the time of year, the location and the client brief. The plants that feature at the Show depends on a variety of factors such as weather during the growing season and availability. While the designers try to update lists where possible, the accuracy of the list cannot be guaranteed.

About the designer

Born and raised in the Cotswolds, Luke Gunner began his career in horticulture 15 years ago at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens. Developing a love for unusual plants, he went on to work with sub-tropical species at Ventnor Botanic Gardens, on the Isle of Wight,  after which he took on a role managing the Exotic Garden at RHS Garden Wisley. Luke then returned to the Cotswolds and works as a designer at Cotswold Estates and Gardens, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2025.

What are the advantages of designing a garden at the show?

Luke wanted to build a garden that will be viewed and appreciated by a large number of people, he also got involved in the project as a celebration of Cotswold Estates and Garden’s 60th anniversary.