Adam Frost

I got to catch up with the lovely people from Lands’ End last week to relaunch our Chelsea garden at their HQ in Oakham, just down the road from Barnsdale Gardens where I’m based.

The garden has been relocated, lock stock and barrel, next to the Lands’ End head office and we celebrated its completion last week with a small gathering.

There was a great turnout from loyal customers and I even got to make the acquaintance of the High Sheriff of Rutland, Peter Lawson, who gave the opening his official seal of approval. 

He arrived in his official regalia: black velvet frock coat, knickerbockers and a lacy white shirt. Best of all was that he was toting his ceremonial sword, although I thought it was a bit of a shame that it didn’t get used for the ribbon cutting ceremony!

So, the Lands’ End Across the Pond garden is now officially open to view at the Lands’ End offices. You can find it just outside the outlet shop where it can be enjoyed by customers and staff alike.

The garden looks quite a bit different to the way it did at Chelsea. The planting for the show was a mixture of reality and fantasy. Reality in as much as we chose plants that are looking their best in late spring such as luzulas,foxgloves and rodgersia – and fantasy because they were all packed in for effect. You wouldn’t plant things cheek by jowl like that in real life.

The replanted garden has a bit of bare earth between the plants right now but by this time next year they will all have grown and knitted together beautifully. 

Also, because the new location is in full sun, we couldn’t use the moisture-loving beauties we had at Chelsea. So instead of the hostas and ferns, we’ve put in achilleas,kniphofias and Campanulas that will love basking in the sunshine. 

Any of you who joined us at Chelsea will still recognise the backbone of the garden, the concrete stepping stones, pebble lined pool and vertical wall of water are still there as are our planting trio of shady trees, boxes hedges and euonymous alatus for structure.

Do drop by to see the garden. I love the fact that, unlike many of the gardens at Chelsea that just get scrapped at the end of the show, Lands’ End are living up to their green credentials and have recycled the garden for us all to enjoy in the years to come.