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We're at the Chelsea Flower Show!

Chelsea Flower Show

Thanks to our sponsors, Project Giving Back, we exhibited our Pulp Friction Growing Skills Garden as an All About Plants garden at 2024’s Chelsea Flower Show.Proudly working in partnership with designers, Will and Tin-Tin, from Dutch Landscape Architects, our garden has been grown, built and promoted by our Members winning not only won a silver-gilt medal, but also the RHS People’s Choice Award!
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The Garden

Inspired by the smoothie bike that founded Pulp Friction, our Growing Skills Garden spins our from the centre and features tiles created and designed by Members to mirror their beautiful spin art canvases. With just 4.8% of adults with a Learning Disability currently in paid employment, we have ensured this is highlighted in the garden by the inclusion of 5 trees.

Our Members are at the heart of everything we do and we hope our garden reflects this throughout the design and feel.

With the home of Pulp Friction sitting near the remnants of the famous Sherwood Forest, designers, Dutch Landscape Architects, incorporated Robert Hart’s ‘forest gardens’ concept into the garden’s planting design, which is 100% edible.

The garden also highlights one of our key partnerships. The central circular structure is wrapped in a donated fire hose, nodding to our significant relationship with Nottinghamshire’s Fire and Rescue Service, who have supported the development and growth of Pulp Friction for many years.

The garden is a space for everyone to enjoy. We hope it will live on passed the Show as a place where our Members, their families, friends, and the wider community can come together, build understanding but develop new skills and experiences together.

Pulp Friction CIC's Growing Skills Garden at the Chelsea Flower Show 2024

The plants

Check out our full plant list – Pulp_Friction_DLA-May – Plant ID

Unlike other gardens at the show, our Members have grown a third of the plants used within the exhibition in-house. Every seed has been sown and every cutting potted by a Member. We’re proud to see so many of our Member’s plants sitting within the garden, but any plants that didn’t make it to the show will be used in the relocation site, or sold to create funds for our organisation. Fennel, succulents, alpine strawberries and Lady’s Mantel are among the variants grown by our Members and used within the final garden, but our proudest accomplishment is the story of our runner beans!

A huge thank you to our network of volunteers who acted as foster parents for our plants in order to keep them warm over the cooler months. It’s thanks to the hard work and dedication of our supporters that we have been able to bring a beautiful arrangements of plants at the show.

Runner Beans

One of the challenges we were determined to rise to, is growing runner beans! We wanted these to feature in our garden to represent our bean row at our Community Garden in Bestwood, where beans are grown for the local community to enjoy. Despite attempting to grow the beans throughout February, March and April in time for the show in May, we were delighted to see the finished product turn up at the show, not only beginning to flower, but also growing small beans!

For the show, our Members grew three varieties – Polestar, Painted Lady and Hestia (which is a dwarf runner bean), with the outstanding support from the teams at the University of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire County Council’s Brooke Farm.

We're taking our 'Growing Skills Garden'
to 2024' Chelsea Flower Show

Watch our short film to understand our mission, what we do, and how we plan to tie this into the garden design and build.

The Features

The Growing Skills garden has provided lots of opportunities for the team to grow and also craft items for use in the garden build. Here’s a section of the crafted elements that we’re adding:

GABION flower show

GABION

Using reclaimed materials from across Nottingham.

aprons

APRONS

Using spin art textiles created by members.

TILES

Using spin art slip created by our members.

BUG HOTELS

Designed and built by members.

BIRD HOUSES

Designed and built by members.

Our Project Team

Our Support Team

The Partners

Dutch Landscape Architects

Will and Tin Tin are our lead designers. They run DUTCH Landscape Architects, a landscape design studio working across the UK and internationally, to create unique and sustainable designs that connect people, places and nature. They have consulted Members and parents throughout the project to ensure that the garden is a true representation of Pulp Friction and our work.

Giving back - Midnight Green logo

Project Giving Back
Gardens for good causes

is a unique grant-making charity that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and this year we are lucky enough to be one of these gardens! They are providing endless support through funding and valuable advice to help our Growing Skills Garden flourish!

Beth the Gardener

Beth started work with Pulp Friction in 2021 as a freelance gardening tutor, and has since supported our Members to grow and develop their horticultural skills through a variety of gardening projects. Beth has been pivotal in our Chelsea project from the beginning, identifying the chance to be involved, researching funding opportunities, planning events to raise awareness and funds, and ensured our Members have had an active role throughout the entire process

Nottingham Fire & Rescue Service.

Chris and the team at NFRS are supporting logistics, transport and the relocation of the garden. The fire crews will play an active role in helping the garden come to life. Their financial and operational support has helped make the project possible.

Nottingham University

Greg, Connie, Mark and the team from Nottingham University are supporting hot benching of some of the tender plants that are being grown by Pulp Friction.




Brooke Farm at Linby

We have been working in partnership with the team and trainees from this specialist horticulture centre in Linby, Nottinghamshire. Brooke Farm is run by Nottinghamshire County Council and together they are supporting the cultivation of beans and a wide range of other plants Pulp Friction are growing for the garden. It has been a great opportunity for our trainees to work side by side. Special thanks to Kerry, Slava and Brad for supporting us!

Nottingham School of Ceramics

Kit and Ben from the school of Ceramics are supporting the production of the Members’ spin art tiles that will feature in the garden.

Rocket Scenery

Our friend Andy and his colleagues at Rocket Scenery are helping us create the hoop and handrails from firehoses. Normally building West End theatre Sets, this is a new challenge for the team. They are also supplying waste wood to Pulp Friction.

Tiger Textiles

Toni and her team have embraced our project and are supporting the production of bespoke gardening aprons that will be designed and elements made by our members.

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