The Children's Society garden has been awarded a gold medal at this year's RHS Chelsea flower show, conveying a powerful message that gardens—and teenagers—do not need to be perfect to be beautiful. The design, created by Patrick Clarke, features plants with visible flaws, such as prickly poppies, a bird's nest fern planted in a drain, and verbascum arcturus, a delicate yellow flower with hairy stems. These plants were chosen to embody the theme of 'beauty in imperfection.'
Design Concept and Message
Clarke explained that the garden's underlying narrative is about embracing imperfection. 'Perfection is the most debilitating thing for young people because it is unattainable, and when they are bombarded with images of perfection on social media, that can be very threatening to their mental health,' he said. He hopes the garden demonstrates how imperfections give us character, making each person unique and beautiful.
Navigating the Garden
To enter, visitors must follow a slightly crooked path, avoid stepping on small plants deliberately placed in their way, and cross steel water rills that encircle the design. Project manager Clarissa Freeman noted, 'You have to be quite brave to step into the garden. There are a few obstacles you’ve got to weave around—and that’s just life, isn’t it? Life isn’t always a straight line, life isn’t always perfect.' The path leads to a sunken seating area surrounded by dense planting, offering a green sanctuary beneficial to young people's mental health.
Symbolism of Plants and Materials
The prickly poppy, a star plant, was chosen for its beauty despite its prickliness. 'It shows you can have beauty with prickliness, that prickly doesn’t necessarily mean bad,' Freeman said. The garden also features a solo seating area tucked under a twisted field maple tree, connected by a concealed path, allowing teens to retreat and then rejoin the social space.
Sustainable and Symbolic Features
Furniture was crafted from fallen trees deemed too imperfect for other uses, with carpenter Olly Hill adding tiny joins resembling stitches to cracks. Clarke explained, 'We’re making an analogy about those tiny interventions that the Children’s Society make in young people’s lives, giving them resilience and strength.' Discarded concrete paving slabs were cut to reveal beautiful aggregate, resembling terrazzo tiling.
Future of the Garden
After Chelsea, the garden will be relocated to a youth club in Bedfordshire, creating the charity's first outdoor wellbeing space for young people, accessible to the wider community. Freeman hopes it will offer a daily haven, 'giving them a hug.'
