Sparsholt College is proudly supporting cancer support charity Maggie’s in Southampton to design a garden display for BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair to be held at Beaulieu from 28-30 April

Designed by Garden Design students at Sparsholt College, the Beautiful Border display for the Beaulieu show is inspired by the architecture of Maggie’s Southampton.

Our planting draws from Hampshire’s horticultural riches and beautiful gardens, and their differing environments.

Discover the Horticulture courses with a national reputation for excellence and incredible industry links that make opportunities like this one possible.

The Wave 

This garden has been titled ‘The Wave’ – symbolising the journey of those with cancer, and their family and friends, and the support that they receive from Maggie’s through the stages of diagnosis, treatment and support.

Maggie’s Wave takes you on a plant filled journey illustrating the vital role the Maggie’s centre Southampton plays in supporting those affected by a cancer diagnosis.

Through symbolism and use of colour, our garden also explores the link between Maggie Keswick Jencks inception of the Maggie’s centres and the spiritual concepts of Taoism, one of her areas of interest. A wave, ‘Tao’ moves through three garden spaces, representing fluctuating energy and emotion. Starting with planting of dark restrained colour and form, the wave rests at a central water feature and a planting of green and white, a quiet regenerative escape. The path then widens surrounded by bright harmonising planting that celebrates the beauty and energy of nature.

In order to promote and encourage sustainability in the garden the rustic materials used for the two screens and the low path edging fence show what can be made by gathering materials found close to home.

The Sanctuary 

Maggie’s Sanctuary reflects Maggie’s Southampton’s work in nurturing those living with a cancer diagnosis. It reflects how people move between Maggie’s building and garden in a continuing dialogue between the internal and external spaces.

Embodying that vital sense of escape and refuge during a time of crisis and uncertainty, the pocket woodland is inspired by the
landscapes of the New Forest. With its natural stability and calm, the design emulates Maggie’s Southampton’s striking bold linear architecture through a three-sided structure wrapped around a hidden oasis.

Vistas from different perspectives and shifting shapes draw the onlooker to explore.

 

 

MAGGIE’S SANCTUARY

Maggie’s Sanctuary reflects Maggie’s Southampton’s work in nurturing those living with a cancer diagnosis. It reflects how people move between Maggie’s building and garden in a continuing dialogue between the internal and external spaces.

LOCAL INSPIRATIONS

The pocket woodland is inspired by the landscapes of the New Forest, evoking the reassuring power of the familiar, and the healing effects of water and sky.

MAGGIE’S WAVE

A wave, ‘Tao’ moves through three garden spaces, representing fluctuating energy and emotion. Starting with planting of dark restrained colour and form, the wave rests at a central water feature and a planting of green and white, a quiet regenerative escape.

 


MAGGIE’S 

Maggie’s in Southampton is a registered charity that provides free emotional and practical support for people with cancer and their families and friends. Maggie’s relies on voluntary donations from the local community so that our cancer support specialists, Psychologist and other specialist staff can provide this support all year round for free. The newest centre at University Hospital Southampton completed at the end of 2020 is already open and serving the communities of the south of England and the Channel Islands.

The centre is a warm and welcoming place, with professional staff on hand to offer the support people need to find their way through cancer. Maggie’s is a place to find practical advice about benefits and eating well; a place where qualified experts provide emotional support; a place to meet other people or simply to sit quietly with a cup of tea.