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20 September 2021
Girls at The Queen’s Lower School have returned to school this year to find a fabulous Feature Garden from the Tatton Park Flower Show has been moved to the site.
The school have been the lucky recipients of Anca Panait’s wonderful ‘Flower Power’ Garden from the Tatton Park Show – a legacy that not only matches the school’s love for the outdoors, but it also cements the commitment of Queen’s in providing spaces which impact on, and support the well-being of their whole community.
The RHS in collaboration with landscape designers like Anca are passionate about creating lasting legacies, and so show gardens are transferred from many events like the Tatton Park Show to beneficiaries who are able to look after and cultivate a love for nature and wildlife through this wonderful legacy.
Following the Tatton Park Show at the end of July, work began at the Queen’s Lower School by preparing the ground for the exciting relocation. The amazing team at Landstruction (who originally set up the garden at Tatton Park) were confident and knowledgeable in planning the School site and providing the foundations to replicate Anca Panait’s design.
Pathways were laid, water troughs embedded, walls built and trees and plants relocated. It was wonderful to see Anca on site, personally placing each plant in its final forever home. The journey all the plants took from their early days being nurtured in a nursery, to being planted at Tatton Park, and then replanted finally at Queen’s Lower School, bears testament to the resilience of nature – everything thrives given the right care and attention.
Head of the Lower School Iona Carmody said: “I am absolutely delighted with the latest edition to our outdoor learning environment and the girls have already been enjoying the area which has been lovely to see.
“I wish to thank Anca Panait for her amazing design which responds so well to the needs of our time; David Binks and the Landstruction team for their vision, hard work, generosity and good will in transferring the garden over the summer holidays, and Adam Dandy for his generous donation of topsoil to ensure our garden has the best possible start in its new home! Following a tumultuous eighteen months, the wellbeing of our girls is our number one priority and I know this new space is going to be a perfect environment for all the community to use, not to mention the abundance of wildlife which are already making themselves very much at home. Green and blue spaces are the perfect tonic for our times, and Queen’s is looking forward to continuing to use our outdoor opportunities for the space and freedom to mentally breathe and let go!”
Award-winning landscape architect and designer of the garden Anca Panait said: ‘The relocation of the garden was an important part of the process because we wanted the garden to last beyond the show days. We were delighted to find out that Queen’s Lower School have the perfect place for it and what better location than a school that puts so much importance on the power of nature and outdoor space. We hope it will become a place where both children and staff can enjoy and nurture it.’
About the garden
Anca’s design for the official RHS Flower Power Garden took inspiration from Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, a taxonomic guidebook to the colours of the natural world, first published in 1814. The garden is a celebration of colour and the moods and emotions it inspires.
The garden is divided into four areas, each with its own colour theme, visitors are invited to acknowledge their responses to the colours of the planting. Beginning with intense red tones, often associated with energy and passion, the planting progresses through different colours and their tonal values and ends with calming white and green plants in an area devoted to forest bathing. Fragrance is significant in this garden too, since it can influence mood and emotions.
A water feature draws people to the soothing, calmer blue area where salvias, chicory and Eryngium create a naturalistic planting scheme.
A small boulder invites people to take a seat and dip their toes in the cool waters below before crossing the path to the forest area, where there’s an opportunity to rest among the woodland planting sheltered by taller trees.
About the designer
Born in Romania, Anca Panait has lived and worked in the UK since 2012 and is one of a growing number of young landscape architects making their mark on the industry.
As a finalist in the RHS Young Designer Competition at RHS Tatton Park in 2017 she was awarded a Silver Gilt medal for the ‘Prospect and Refuge Garden’. She went on to design ‘The Entertaining Garden’ at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2018.
Growing up with a passion for drawing and capturing the beauty of the natural environment, Anca describes her style as a combination of informal and architectural. She likes to create landscapes that test her creativity and allow her to experiment with materials and planting, providing visitors with an immersive experience to reconnect with nature.
