The M&G Garden by Cleve West Wins Gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016
- London, 24 May 2016. The M&G Garden by Cleve West has been awarded a prestigious RHS gold medal at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
- It was one of only six show gardens to be awarded the gold Medal at this year’s Show.
- This is Cleve West’s sixth gold medal and in addition he has also twice previously been winner of ‘Best in Show’.
Cleve West has won gold at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016 for M&G Investments, the international asset manager. This is the sixth time West has one Gold at Chelsea.
The ancient oak woodland themed garden is inspired by the designer’s childhood memories of Exmoor making it one of West’s most personal creations to date. The centrepiece of the garden is a sunken terrace and pool in grey sandstone, sourced from The Forest of Dean. Edges are sharp and the layout geometric, the essence of a modern garden design.
The garden features a stone and gravel path through woodland edge planting, leading past stunted oaks and rocks to a smoother path. The path, a metaphor for the designer’s own journey into garden design, starts with rough stone and gravel becoming smoother with sawn stone towards the sunken, ‘designed' space.
The oak-woodland inspired garden features up to seven trees and other planting including shrubs, perennials, grasses, ferns, bulbs and annuals. Key planned flora include: Downy Oak (Quercus pubescens), Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), Whortleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), Golden Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha), Brook Thistle (Cirsium atropurpureum), Mountain Cranesbill (Geranium pyrenaicum Bill Wallis), Siberian Flag (Iris sibirica) and Wild Strawberry (Fragaria vesca).
Cleve West says: “Designing The M&G Garden for this year’s Show has been an absolute pleasure and I’m proud to have won a Gold Medal. From the earliest conversations with M&G over two years ago, I drew on my own memories for inspiration and how the past can influence the future. I give thanks to my fantastic team and of course to M&G for making this possible. Their sponsorship of the show for this many years has enabled M&G to make a real difference in horticulture.
2016 marks M&G’s seventh year as the title sponsor of RHS Chelsea and the Medal at the Show. M&G has been managing the money of individuals and institutions for more than 80 years.
Jacqui Haskins, Marketing Director at M&G says: “Winning this RHS Gold medal at Chelsea is a hugely rewarding feeling. We have produced seven gardens since our sponsorship of the Show began and it has been a great pleasure to work with a garden designer of Cleve West’s caliber for a second year. This garden has been over two years in the making and the result is a testament to both Cleve and his team’s hard work. Cleve has produced a wonderful ancient woodland themed garden.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 24th – 28th May 2016.
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About Cleve West
Cleve West is a landscape designer whose creative use of space and imaginative planting has put him at the forefront of contemporary garden design in the UK. He has won a total of eight RHS Gold Medals (five at the Chelsea Flower Show) and three awards for innovative garden design. His garden for Bupa at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2008 won the BBC/RHS “People's Choice” award and he has won the coveted “Best in Show” two years in succession for The Telegraph in 2011 and Brewin Dolphin in 2012. His paradise-themed garden won a Gold Medal for the Chelsea Flower Show’s main sponsor, M&G Investments in 2014.
Whether in town or in the country, Cleve combines structure with sensuality, the classic with the contemporary, invariably embracing the tension between the familiar and unfamiliar to give the garden an ‘edge’.
Sustainability is the corner stone of Cleve’s philosophy. He uses local materials wherever possible and carefully selects plants that work in their surroundings. His planting schemes, natural or contrived, will always be guided by existing flora and local conditions especially where bio-diversity is an issue.
About RHS
As the world’s leading gardening charity, we help to bring gardening into people’s lives and support gardeners of all levels and abilities; whether they are expert horticulturists, beginners, or children who are planting seeds for the very first time. Gardening improves the quality of life and the RHS believes everyone should have access to great horticultural experiences.
RHS membership is for anyone with an interest in gardening. Support the RHS and secure a healthy future for gardening. For more information call: 0845 130 4646, or visit www.rhs.org.uk
RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262
About M&G
M&G is an international active asset manager, investing on behalf of individuals and institutions for over 80 years. At 31 December 2015 the firm managed over £246.1 billion of assets through a wide range of investment strategies across equities, fixed income, real estate and multi asset.
Headquartered in London, M&G employs over 1,900 people worldwide operating from offices across Europe and Asia.
M&G is the investment arm of Prudential Plc in the UK and Europe.
For more information on M&G Investments, please visit www.mandg.co.uk
This press release reflects the authors’ present opinions reflecting current market conditions which are subject to change without notice and involve a number of assumptions which may not prove valid. It has been written for informational purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice or as a recommendation of any particular security, strategy or investment product. Information given in this document has been obtained from, or based upon, sources believed by us to be reliable and accurate although M&G does not accept liability for the accuracy of the contents. M&G does not offer investment advice or make recommendations regarding investments. Opinions are subject to change without notice. M&G Investments is a business name of M&G Investment Management Limited and is used by other companies within the Prudential Group. M&G Investment Management Limited is registered in England and Wales under number 936683 with its registered office at Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R 0HH. M&G Investment Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.