Leeds City Council returns to the world’s most prestigious horticultural event – the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – with its most ambitious garden design yet for 2010.

Following the success of The HESCO Garden in 2009 which earned a Silver Gilt Flora award, Leeds City Council has again teamed up with sponsors HESCO Bastion to produce this year’s show garden entry.

The theme of the HESCO Garden 2010 is to celebrate the green linkages of parks and green spaces to be found in Leeds as well as stressing the important role these areas play in improving the health and wellbeing of people who visit them.

Studies have proven that time spent in parks and green spaces brings significant health benefits, and the HESCO Garden 2010 project is a reflection of the ‘green linkages’ to be found in Leeds which allow people to access current and developing country park areas all over the city.

The garden design itself is a stunning snapshot of the green spaces in Leeds, with distinctive woodland, wetland and floral meadow sections. These flank the ambitious centrepiece of the garden – a section of canal and lock gate based on those found on the iconic Leeds-Liverpool Canal.

The Leeds-Liverpool Canal is the longest canal in northern England, measuring 127 miles long and passing through 91 locks. It was built over 46 years, starting in 1765 when businessmen proposed a link from Leeds to Preston to transport woollen goods and limestone. It was then developed to run to Liverpool and throughout the 19^th century was used as a key route for commercial transporting of stone, coal and a variety of other goods.

The HESCO Garden 2010 is the largest show garden ever entered at Chelsea by Leeds City Council, reflecting both the success achieved by the previous seven gardens and the continued drive to keep improving and putting new skills into action in design and production to showcase the skills and talents of the workforce in Leeds.

The garden has been designed by the council’s Parks and Active Recreation Service with support from sponsors HESCO Bastion, the Leeds-based manufacturers of products used in civil engineering who are world leaders in their field.

The design will make use of locally-sourced Yorkshire materials combined with plants also found in the region, while the skills which go into creating the garden also directly benefit the people of Leeds as these techniques are used to improve the look and quality of green spaces throughout the city.

There is also an important educational element of the project as local schools will be learning about the value of green spaces and the important role they play and taking part in a special competition around the garden design.

All seven previous Chelsea garden entries have been awarded either bronze, silver or silver gilt flora awards with many of the gardens being permanently placed in public spaces for the people of Leeds to enjoy. The team are hopeful 2010 could bring a first-ever Gold Award, and this year’s show garden is sure to turn heads at Chelsea in May.

Go to Plants list