RHS Medal Winner 11

This eye-catching, award-winning garden designed and Ann-Marie Powell of Ann-Marie Powell Gardens and constructed by The Garden Builders featured in the 2011 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Titled, 'Mending Broken Hearts Appeal Garden', for the British Heart Foundation, the garden was sponsored by Brewin Dolphin.

The garden featured an intriguing mix of materials and textures to convey the theme. A commanding bespoke walkway of metalwork arches powder-coated in blood red ushered visitors through the space, which was laid with large red blood cell stepping stones formed from fibreglass. The arches resembled heartstrings and plunged into a black pool, conveying movement throughout the garden.

The surrounding textural planting is lush and dense, highlighted by a living green wall. Limes are planted above the green wall, chosen for their edible, young leaves as well as for their heart-shaped foliage, in keeping with the theme.

The red colour scheme is reinforced by the planting of red peonies and wild strawberries. The garden also features a treasure of medicinal plants known for their heart-healing properties, such as Salix caprea (willow), known to be an important source of aspirin.