About the garden

The Sleep in Beauty Garden celebrates the joys of sleeping outside in a beautiful garden. A king-sized bed will sit beneath a glorious overhead structure with a living roof and a star gazing panel.

Multiple trees will create a wonderful feeling of dappled shade, and the calming and relaxed planting will feature the shade-tolerant plants which are so often the ‘unsung heroes’ of our gardens.

Sustainability will be at the heart of this garden, with reclaimed and repurposed materials used throughout. The garden will also be cement-free.

Who or what is the design inspiration for the garden?

The Sleep in Beauty Garden is inspired by enjoying spending time outside. Our gardens are often the backdrops for so many happy daytime events and occasions, but we often overlook their potential in the evenings and overnight. This garden will seek to highlight the joys of sleeping in our gardens, surrounded by fresh air, plants and nature.

Who is this garden for?

A couple

Where is the garden set?

The East Midlands

Key take away from the garden

The potential benefits of sleeping in our gardens, surrounded by fresh air, plants and nature.

Highlights or themes to notice/know

• A comfortable and welcoming king-sized bed.
• Sustainable elements, including reclaimed and repurposed materials.
• Cement-free construction.
• Shade-tolerant planting.

Where will the garden be relocated?

Every part of this garden will be repurposed across numerous gardens for private clients.

Sustainability

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

• Reclaimed and repurposed materials, including scaffolding boards and industrial stillages.
• Ground screws in place of concrete footings/foundations.
• Natural stone paving produced from offcuts of the paving industry.

Ways the garden promotes environmental responsibility /sustainability

The use of sustainable construction techniques, as well as the utilisation of reclaimed and repurposed materials.

Sustainable water management

• Environmentally sensitive use of hard landscaping
• Resilient planting design (to cope with increased climatic extremes)
• Drought-tolerant planting with soil amendment (such as gravel/rock gardens, mulching)

Plants

New or statement plants

Shade-tolerant planting throughout. Multiple trees to create a romantic feeling of dappled shade.

Unsung plant heroes of the gardening world

Shade-tolerant plants are often the unsung heroes of our gardens and will be used throughout The Sleep in Beauty Garden.

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

An experienced garden designer based in the East Midlands of England, Ian has been creating beautiful and practical gardens since 2004. A fully registered member of the Society of Garden Designers, this is his second RHS show garden, following his debut at RHS Spring Malvern Festival 2024 with Concrete 2.0.

Ian was inspired to get into the horticultural industry by the joy of helping people enjoy their gardens more.

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

Ian says, “Show gardens provide a wonderful opportunity to explore ideas and concepts. Having had such a joyful experience at RHS Malvern Spring Festival last year, I really wanted to come back and create another really exciting show garden.”