The Savills Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023

The long relationship between Savills and the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has entered an exciting phase this year, with a sponsored garden that brings to life the “plot to plate” theme. The ingenious “edimental” garden, created by one of Chelsea’s most decorated designers, Mark Gregory, incorporates a working kitchen from which chefs can serve up dishes made with produce grown on the plot.

Edimental style is about planting with purpose, reinvigorating the potager and combining edibles with ornamentals to create a visually appealing, productive space. “I wanted to create a garden that is a vision to the eye as well as being a feast for the palate,” Gregory says.

At a time of increasing concern about food security, a kitchen garden encouraging aesthetically pleasing self-sufficiency feels especially relevant. Herbs such as fennel, bay and sage frame a secluded sunken dining area, strengthening the connection between diner and produce. Sam Buckley, a young British chef with a Michelin green star, will be foraging and cooking from the garden daily throughout the show.

If the thinking behind it is serious, the garden itself is playful. Gregory is renowned for “theatrical offerings with touches of realism”. In this case, the mechanics of the working garden are on display, with details such as a newly dug bed, freshly harvested plants and string lines marking out new rows for vegetables. Alongside will be figs, a grapevine gracing the glasshouse and naturalised orchard staples of the British culinary canon, including medlars and espaliered pears and apples. There will also be nods to Britain’s waterway and coastline plants, in the form of watercress and samphire irrigated with seawater.

Sustainability is embedded into every aspect of the garden’s design. Gregory opted for environmentally sensitive landscaping materials from his native Yorkshire and, at the end of the show, the garden moves on to the next phase of its life cycle. Working with the Shaw Trust, Savills is donating the garden to a residential home for young people in Nottinghamshire, with the aim of inspiring a new generation of gardeners and cooks.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 23 May to 27 May, 2023

Chef Sam Buckley has created a cocktail for Portfolio to celebrate The Savills Garden:

Winifred’s Spritz
Named after Winifred Phillips, the first female Chelsea Pensioner

This is a refreshing cocktail for a high noon stroll through the herb garden perfect for a warm summer afternoon or garden party. 

1. Fill your basket with mint and lemon balm.
2. Make a base with 500 ml white port, a decent handful of mint and one of lemon balm, add a pinch of sugar and blitz with a hand blender until smooth. Strain through a piece of muslin cloth.
3. Take an inch slice of cucumber and crush with the back of a knife. Add this to a shaker with 50ml of the white port mixture and ice.
4. Shake vigorously.
5. Double strain into a champagne flute and top up with a chilled dry Prosecco.
6. Garnish with one small mint leaf and enjoy.

The white port mixture can be kept covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Sam Buckley’s restaurant, Where The Light Gets In, has a green Michelin star and is based in Stockport, Manchester.

Pictures from top: an illustration of the Savills Garden (Landform); Mark Gregory, gardener (L) and Sam Buckley, chef (R); edible flower Viola tricolor  (European field pansy); Winifred’s Spritz (Jacob Timms)