Quintessence
COMMUNITY GARDEN · GLOSSOP · 2026
Gamesley Community Garden
This garden was never meant to end at Sandringham. When the show closed, I brought the planting from my RHS border home to Glossop and gave it a permanent place at Gamesley Community Centre.
Rehomed from RHS Sandringham · Opened 26 September 2026 · Gamesley, Glossop
THE MOVE
From show ground to Glossop clay
Between Chaos & Order was built for a five-day flower show. Finding it a second home was always part of the plan: rehoming is a big part of the RHS’s commitment to sustainability, and they help designers plan for it.
I asked the Bureau, the charity that looks after the community across Glossopdale, where the planting would do the most good. The answer was Gamesley. There has been a community garden here since people were first moved to the homes in the 1960s, but there was never a plan for who would carry it on. So this is about bringing an old garden back to life.
Artemisia, nepeta, perovskia, agapanthus, limonium, stipa, echinacea, salvia, verbena, geranium, hosta and deschampsia all made the trip. Read the full story in the Journal.
Right plant, right place
Show conditions and Glossop clay are not the same thing. Here is how I gave the plants a fair start.
THE GROUND
Heavy clay
Gamesley sits on heavy clay that drains poorly and holds the wet.
THE PLANTS
Sun lovers
Perovskia, echinacea and agapanthus want full sun and sharp drainage.
THE FIX
On mounds
Each root ball sits on a layer of gritty soil, so nothing stands in water.
THE MULCH
Show gravel
Sand and gravel left over from the show garden, spread thick on top.
Everything is an experiment. Now we tend the garden, and the garden tends us.
In the garden
Planting days at Gamesley, late summer 2026.
Watch
Opening day, Saturday 26 September 2026.
From the Journal
The longer story of the move, in my own words.
IN THE PRESS
Featured in the Glossop Chronicle
The garden made the front page of the Glossop Chronicle on 1 October 2026, with a two-page spread inside on the day the community opened it.
Where this connects
The show garden it came from, and the work it leads to.
THE SHOW GARDEN
Between Chaos & Order
The Silver-Gilt border at RHS Sandringham where these plants began. See the show garden
STEWARDSHIP
Tending it on
A garden is never finished. This is the long-term care I offer. Garden stewardship
FOR YOUR GARDEN
Planting like this
Loose, naturalistic layers, chosen for your soil. Garden and planting design
The opening made the front page of the Glossop Chronicle. See all press · More projects in the portfolio
Good to know.
Where is the garden?
At Gamesley Community Centre in Glossop, Derbyshire. There has been a community garden on the site since the 1960s.
Where did the plants come from?
From Between Chaos & Order, my Silver-Gilt border at RHS Sandringham Flower Show in July 2026.
Is rehoming unusual?
No. Rehoming is a big part of the RHS’s commitment to sustainability. I wrote about it in the Journal.
Who looks after it now?
I do, alongside the community. That long-term care is what I call garden stewardship.