The Renters' Retreat
An RHS Hampton Court Palace Show Garden 2023
About the garden
The award-winning Renters' Retreat 'get started' garden is all about empowering and inspiring us all, no matter our home ownership status, to get gardening for ourselves and the planet. The Renter’s Retreat garden has been successful in recieving three awards at this year’s RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival including the RHS Peoples Choice Award, a gold medal and the Best Get Started Garden.
The story behind the garden started at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival two years ago, when garden designer, Zoe Claymore, first saw the 'get started' category of gardens. She realised that renting, along with a lack of inspiration about what she could do with the space she had available, had been one of the biggest barriers to getting into gardening. With 1 in 3 households renting their homes, she felt a large group of people were being overlooked by show gardens and set herself the goal of creating one that would inspire everyone - not just those that owned their properties - to get gardening!
The Renters' Retreat - Zoe Claymore
Craig Bennett and Zoe Claymore accepting the Best Get Started Garden Award. Photo: Charles Thody
Renters Retreat Garden
7-spot ladybird in The Renters' Retreat Garden - Credit Zoe Claymore
The design itself showcases a whole host of ideas for how to garden sustainably, without digging into the soil or attaching items to the walls. The backdrop of the garden is based on a barren shady urban courtyard Zoe used to rent herself. As renting is transient and can be hectic, the design focuses on how we can create a place of stillness and calm in a busy urban space. Equally important - and completely inkeeping with The Wildlife Trusts' values - was to show how a rented space can not only be lovely for humans but also attract and support a whole host of wildife. Key wildlife features, such as a water feature and tree have therefore been incorporated into the design in a way that could be achievable for renters. Whilst the use of environmentally damaging peat compost and chemicals, including pesticides, have been avoided.
Planting focuses on easy to source plants that reliably attract wildlife. Shades of green with pops of colour celebrate British woodlands and create a calm, relaxed atmosphere. Providing for wildlife throughout the seasons was also key, from food availability to shade, leading to the inclusion of winter and spring flowering plants that are not traditionally found in a July show garden.
Hugelkultur - Zoe Claymore
Hugelkultur
Wood is a fantastic growing medium that has been used in permaculture for decades due to its water retentive properties. Consider building a hugelkultur out of wood - and if you know a friendly tree surgeon, maybe you could get one for free!
Key species
We wanted to make sure that there was food and shelter for wildlife year-round, so our planting plan aimed to have some of the plants flowering in each of the four seasons. Below are some of the species we choose, but you can download a full plant list here.
About Zoe - the designer
Zoe Claymore is a budding garden designer and horticulturalist and this is her first show garden.
Garden designer, Zoe Claymore - Annabelle May
Zoe trained in garden design at The Inchbald School of Design in London, graduating in 2022 with a distinction, winning the Dean's Prize for her rewilding of Ham House meadows. Since graduating she has worked as an independent designer on a range of spaces in southern England, ranging from small urban town gardens to larger country estates.
Website: www.zoeclaymore.com
Instagram: @zoe_claymoreÂ
Twitter:Â @zoeclaymore
Creating a wildlife-friendly space at home
The Wildlife Trusts have lots of tips and advice on how you can create a wildlife-friendly space at home. To access all our guidance, visit our 'Action' pages.
With thanks
The following supporters helped to make The Renters' Retreat possible.
Garden bumblebee by Chris Gomersall/2020VISION