WELSH SLATE SET TO STAR AT TWO RHS SHOWS
23 April 2019
Welsh Slate materials are being used by Paul Hervey-Brookes at Chelsea and Chatsworth.
Natural slate boulders, cleaved walling and decorative aggregates from Welsh Slate will feature in two gardens being created for the RHS Chelsea and Chatsworth Flower Shows by multi award-winning garden designer Paul Hervey-Brookes
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from May 21st to 25th will feature slate monoliths and decorative aggregate from Welsh Slate’s main quarry at Penrhyn in Bethesda, North Wales.
Then the RHS Chatsworth Flower Show at the stately home in Derbyshire from June 5th to 9th will feature cleaved walling and paving slabs, both 600mm x 300mm and in Blue/Grey, and green and blue/grey decorative aggregate.
The gardens being designed for the shows by Paul are for Chelsea, the “The art of Viking garden” for award-winning worldwide river and ocean cruise operator Viking Cruises. This will be a multi-layered wetland habitat reminiscent of a water meadow, with multi-stem river birches and winding streams running through the space (pictured left).
Paul said:
“The Welsh Slate is the perfect colour to evoke the look and feel I am trying to create in the garden. It is superior in its range of colours, and particularly when we are trying to recreate landscape, the expertise of the quarry staff in helping find pieces which speak of landscape also play a huge part.”
At Chatsworth, the Brewin Dolphin Artists’ Garden for wealth management company Brewin Dolphin, is billed as a place of calm, rest and inspiration, taking as its theme a traditional artisan cottage garden, complete with a structured open courtyard, herbaceous borders, traditional plants and an apothecary herbal garden to promote wellbeing (pictured right). Paul’s Brewin Dolphin installation at last year’s RHS Chatsworth Flower Show won the People’s Choice Award.
Paul said:
“The Brewin Dolphin Garden at Chatsworth is also about the value of traditional crafts and beautifully made items. Seeing the handmade paving and other materials with Welsh Slate and knowing a lot about the quarrying business it feels to me a bit of a no-brainer to use Welsh Slate as it embodies the quality of craftsmanship, skill and something you would value. As a Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying it is a thrill for me to work with Welsh Slate to showcase paving and garden-related ideas which can be applied in any garden where quality and craftsmanship are valued.”
Welsh Slate managing director Mark Hodgkinson said:
“We are delighted to be working with a garden designer of the calibre of Paul and to have our material showcased at the two leading RHS shows in the UK.”
