AN AWARD-winning Malvern show garden has been relocated to its new home in the latest phase of a multi-million pound revamp of an historic Worcester venue.
Hot on the heels of having been awarded a coveted Silver-Gilt Medal for her show garden at RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2018 recently, Herefordshire based garden designer Olivia Kirk has been overseeing the relocation of the hundreds of plants, trees and shrubs from the garden, into their permanent home in the new Court Yard garden at the Royal Porcelain Works.
The venue officially opens at the end of June and will provide a vibrant new centre for the performing arts and modern craftsmanship.
The central garden, which has also been designed by Olivia, will link a new artisan cafe/deli ‘The Nest, Worcester’, with the existing Museum of Royal Worcester and the adjacent Royal Porcelain Works, with the beautifully renovated Henry Sandon Hall, which will be an arts centre run by Worcester Live.
Over the last week, Olivia and her team have dismantled the Show Garden at Malvern and carefully loaded all the plants and trees onto a fleet of lorries to transport them over to the redevelopment project in the centre of Worcester.
Olivia has then been carefully managing the replanting into the raised-bed Court Yard design.
“The Collectors Garden’ at Malvern was months in the planning and it took over three weeks to build and plant for the show,” she said..
“We were absolutely delighted with how the garden was received by the thousands of visitors to the show.
“So, dismantling it all after all that hard work could have seemed very sad, but what was great was that we knew that all the beautiful plants and trees were going to live on in their new home here at the Royal Porcelain Works, and visitors will be able to enjoy them for many years to come.”
The Nest will look out onto the courtyard garden area and will feature outdoor seating where visitors can eat and drink and enjoy live music and entertainment over the summer weekends.
The Royal Porcelain Works redevelopment is being funded by the Bransford Trust, a supporter of the arts, music, education and wellbeing of local young people.
With Worcester Live and The Nest, it aims to encourage greater participation in the arts, increase tourism and ensure a vibrant future for a location which has played an incalculable part in Worcester’s cultural identity and economic wellbeing for some 250 years.
Trust chairman Colin Kinnear OBE said: “The Court Yard Garden is a wonderful addition to the redevelopment project as it will provide a beautiful outdoor space where people can sit, meet, eat and drink and enjoy some of the live outdoor events we have planned at the Royal Porcelain Works throughout the summer.”
The Royal Porcelain Works is opening to the public in a weekend of events on June 30 and July 1.
Visit www.royalporcelainworks.co.uk for more information.
