Boughton soils bloom in award-winning gardens

Accredited Supplier Boughton Soil Aids sustainability in at Chelsea Flower Show gardens.

The Savills Garden

An ambitious project for designer Mark Gregory and the team at Landform Consultants who were responsible for the bringing the vision to life, The Savills Garden also heralded a first for the famous flower show. At its very heart, the garden featured a full working kitchen and potager and walled garden. Built completely from scratch, from the ground up, the garden was a true plot-to-plate experience, feeding Chelsea pensioners daily.

It was within the potager garden that Boughton’s soil came into play. In need of a soil that could support healthy vegetable growth, Mark turned to Boughton to request several tonnes of its BLS 40 natural soil.

This repurposed, single source, screened, natural topsoil, usually of sandy/clay loam classification, enjoys added PAS 100 compost, 40% by volume. Boosted with organic matter content and offering excellent moisture and nutrient retention capabilities, BLS 40 was the perfect blend. In fact, it performed so well that Mark and his team witnessed significant vegetable growth, despite them only being in the soil for one week!

Discussing his relationship with Boughton and the soil provided, Mark Gregory said:

“The Savills Garden was, without doubt, our most adventurous Chelsea garden – and, with 108 gardens behind us, we have tried a lot before! As with any of these designs, it is largely reliant on the goods supplied and, with Boughton, I knew I was in safe hands. Providing a consistently seamless offering, and first-class communication, Boughton was the perfect fit. Add in the fact that their soils are the best in the business, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others. I hope to call upon them again!”

Rounding off the 2023 RHS Chelsea experience, The Savills Garden was awarded a Silver Gilt medal.

The Fauna & Flora Garden

The Fauna & Flora Garden, designed by Chelsea Gold Medal-winner, Jilayne Rickards, and landscaped by award-winning landscaper, Tecwyn Evans, Living Landscapes, maps the journey of an ecotourist on a gorilla trek, tracing a rough track through a succession of lush and changing landscapes on either side of the Protected Forest Area boundary wall.

Featuring a medicinal garden, shaded by eucalyptus and banana trees, a tourist kiosk selling local crafts, a true-to-life gorilla nest, waterfall, and viewing rock, the garden aimed to demonstrate the critical importance of protecting nature and how this can be best achieved by putting people and collaboration at the heart of conservation efforts.

Sustainability was a key theme throughout the garden, which is why designer, Jilayne Rickards, reached out to Boughton. To support the African-inspired planting scheme, Boughton worked closely with the team to create a ‘dark’ soil that replicates that found naturally in Rwanda. Created from only natural, UK-based soil, responsibly sourced from construction sites (where it may otherwise be misused or sent to landfill) located near Boughton’s Northamptonshire headquarters, the soil fit perfectly with Jilayne’s determination to reduce the carbon footprint of her builds. Thanks to Jilayne’s collaborative efforts with landscaper, Tecwyn Evans of Living Landscapes, which also prides itself on its sustainable and environmental construction practices, The Fauna & Flora Garden was also entirely cement and concrete free.

Since the close of the show, the garden has been carefully broken down, with much of its contents already on the road to the UK hub of the educational charity and tourist destination, the Eden Project.

The Food for Thought Garden

Over at the Great Pavilion, Boughton’s BLS 40 made a reappearance, this time within the Food for Thought Garden, designed by RHS Chelsea stalwart, John Wheatley. This garden saw seed company Marshalls sponsor a space that demonstrated how beautiful an ordered vegetable garden can be, whilst showcasing a number of recycling and upcycling techniques. The incredible vegetable display, lovingly grown by Terry Porter, saw Boughton’s soil take centre stage, supporting the crops as they were on display at the show. 

Jason Lock, Business Development Manager at Boughton said:

“What a year and what an incredible event RHS Chelsea was! Being able to provide our product to these inspirational gardens was an honour, and we are so thankful to everyone for thinking ‘Boughton’ when sourcing their soil needs. We pride ourselves on bringing to market natural, as-dug soils and are true advocates for the importance of such soils. Being recognised for this by such influential garden designers and being able to support their vision tells us that our messaging is resonating. Thank you to Mark, Jilayne and John for choosing Boughton and we hope to be able to support you – and others – long into the future.”