Hamptons returns to Chelsea Flower Show with Mediterranean garden

Hamptons is returning to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023 following last year’s Gold win.

The agency brand is sponsoring a Mediterranean-themed sanctuary garden at the event.

It is partnering with award winning designers Garden Club London and working with RHS first timer Italian designer Filippo Dester and four-time previous RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold medal winner, Tony Woods.

Dester has created the Hamptons Mediterranean Garden, which is inspired by the architecture, warm tones and sculptural planting of the landscape of his homeland and with climate change in mind.

The garden is described as a contemporary outdoor living space with the look, feel and smell of sunny Mediterranean climes.

It combines an outdoor kitchen with shady open-air dining space where one can relax, enjoy cooking and entertaining family and friends. 

The sustainable urban garden focuses on water conservation as part of considering the effects climate change has had, and will continue to have, on all of our lives.

It is densely planted with drought tolerant ornamental perennials, including scented sub shrubs typical of the “Macchia” and aromatic Mediterranean herbs that encourage biodiversity and provide inhabitants with edible fruits and herbs.

The dining space will be surrounded by an architectural water feature, this will act as example of how rainwater can be harvested and kept in the garden to offer multiple benefits including an aesthetically pleasing feature to be enjoyed by people and wildlife alike and functioning as a water reservoir for the garden irrigation.

In an attempt to minimise its environmental impact the garden will utilise recyclable and non-polluting materials. 

All components will be repurposed and used after the show in collaboration with Groundwork UK and local schools to create drought-tolerant planting schemes.

Hamptons Mediterranean Garden will be unveiled at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 between 22 and 27 May.

Lesley Cairns, managing director of Hamptons, said: “Following our Gold win last year, we’re delighted to be partnering with Garden Club London once again to create Hamptons Mediterranean Garden. 

“Over the past few years, the garden has become a pivotal part of the home and used in so many different ways, but primarily as a place to escape, relax and entertain.

“We are thrilled to be able to create a space that is an extension of the home, created with a preference for using recycled and sustainable materials that celebrates the rise in home entertaining, and is diverse in that it explores the Mediterranean lifestyle with concepts and planting that will also work in the South of England too.”

Dester added: “I’m thrilled to be working with Hamptons on next year’s garden after the success and win of 2022. Hamptons Mediterranean Garden is inspired by the landscapes and architecture I grew up seeing in Italy and shaped by my experience working as a garden designer in the UK. The design carries both influences and combines them.”