The Laurent Perrier Garden by Tom Stuart-Smith

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The Laurent Perrier Garden

James Alexander-Sinclair takes us on a tour of Tom Stuart-Smith's garden, a Gold Medal Winner at this year's Chelsea.

Design inspiration

Tom’s design is a romantic garden of soft lines and spring woodland style planting. A pathway weaves between the trees, leading the visitor to a beautiful reflective space and an elegant sculpted bronze pavilion within. The design is taken from his sponsor’s brief to reflect the spirit of what they do. “They gave me a loose brief so that I can interpret from this fairly freely," explains Tom, "and so I have created a garden that represents a journey through the woodland to this stylised refuge - a sort of nest of bronze within”

The planting is intended to show various layers of sophistication. At one level the grove of birch trees, feels very natural and almost like a woodland, although it’s very stylised and quite simple. The variety of plants is simple, with many chosen for the texture they bring to the scheme rather than the colour of their flowers. Cloud-pruned box hedging is halfway in-between the naturalism of the planting and the architectural quality of the bronze pavilion (which is by award winning architect, Jamie Fobert).

The colour scheme of the planting features warm copper tones, blues, creamy yellows and whites. The pink coppery bark of the Betula, contrasts with the blues and purples of the irises and the delicate lilac blue of the unusual spring flower Phlox divericata.

York stone walling borders one side of the garden. The stone is quite rough and very textured, the warm tones blending with the copper pavilion. A long pool of water provides a reflective element in the design. This garden takes the visitor on a journey through naturalistic organic growth to a pristine and beautifully made centre at its heart.

After the show

What will happen to the garden after the show?

After the show, the York stone will be returned and the paving materials are going to a garden in Hampshire. The pavilion is going to a private garden in London, while the beautiful bronze chairs will hopefully be sold at the show. The plants go back to the nursery to be sold on, and the birch trees back to Deepdale nursery.