Local designer Adam Frost won a Gold medal, and also Best Urban Garden, at the Chelsea Flower Show. Garden Writers’ Guild Member Sarah Brooks visited the garden and caught up with him

There was double delight for Adam Frost at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show as he walked away with his second gold medal in two years, and the award for the best garden in his category. Having constructed Chelsea show gardens for other designers in the past, this year Adam decided to design and built his own – as well as constructing one for Clare Agnew Design.

Adam’s modern front garden, named A Welcome Sight, used rich reds in the planting, and warm cream tones in the hard landscaping, as well as the flowers, to create an elegant, practical and inviting space. The most eye-catching clarets included clusters of pompom-headed Aquilegia ‘Ruby Port’, low-growing, maroon-leaved Heuchera ‘Brownies’, Heuchera ‘Licorice’ and Heuchera ‘Prince’, and a beautiful multi-stemmed cherry tree, Prunus serrula, by the front door.

The decision to design a front garden for Chelsea was intentional, as Adam wanted to help draw attention to a frequently overlooked area. He said, “The inspiration came from a frustration that front gardens often function only as a domestic car park and no longer act as a meeting place. I wanted to design a garden that would not only welcome you home and make you smile, but also make you want to sit and socialise with your neighbour.”

The use of moving water in the garden gave it a tangible sense of calm and tranquillity, making you want to sit, relax and soak up the atmosphere. The sounds of water trickling and dripping in many front garden locations would also help muffle the noise of any passing traffic. Adam’s corkscrew water feature by the front door released droplets of water from the top of each spiral, which ran down them, dripping into the pool beneath. The water then flowed into a slow moving rill, which culminated in a straight drop into a pool beneath.

Chuffed to bits with his two awards, Adam said, “I really can’t believe we have got Gold again and Best Urban Garden. I am really proud of the design, the way our contractors at New Ground Landscapes built it, and the response from the public. It was never intended to break design boundaries – but what it was to do, and has succeeded, is show people just how important their front garden is. I hope that it gives people inspiration to change their front garden to be a space of shared beauty and personal pride.”

Adam Frost Designs
Duncombs Farm, Little Bytham, NG33 4QN
Tel: 01780 410926 www.adamfrost.co.uk
New Ground Landscapes Ltd
Unit 2, Glen Industrial Estate, Essendine,
PE9 4LE Tel: 01780 764700
www.newgroundlandscapes.co.uk

Other local winners

Gold medal
Southfields Nurseries
Bourne Road, Morton, PE10 0RH
Tel: 01778 570168
www.cactusland.co.uk Open daily 10am–12.15pm and 1.15pm– 4pm.

Silver medal
Barnsdale Gardens
The Avenue, Exton, Oakham, LE15 8AH Tel: 01572 813200
www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk Open daily, 9am–7pm.

Bronze medal
D’Arcy and Everest
Meadowsweet Nursery, Pidley Sheep Lane, Somersham, Huntingdon,
PE27 6ZA Tel: 01480 497672 www.darcyeverest.co.uk
Open Wed–Fri, 10am–4pm.