RHS Chelsea - ‘A Trugmaker’s Garden’

22 May

A Trugmaker’s Garden celebrates the traditional skills of the Sussex trugmakers, who make the iconic willow and sweet chestnut garden trugs, which are still made in the region today, by beautifully depicting a trugmaker’s garden at the front of a traditional timber built workshop.

The garden’s vibrant planting scheme is indicative of its time, as a means of attracting passing trade. The busy workshop is bursting with willow and chestnut wood and the traditional Trugmaker’s tools which are still used today. A bold and bright colour scheme runs through the gardens with vibrant colours of oranges, plums, acid greens with a splash of blue with an organised informal planting style.

The materials and techniques of trugmaking are reflected throughout the garden including in its path and border edging. The steps to the garden use reclaimed brick typical of the Sussex Weald. None of the materials are new but traditional as befits an Artisan Garden and have been used creatively to reflect A Trugmaker’s Garden. Materials include Castanea sativa (chestnut) and Salix alba var. caerulea (cricket-bat willow) are repeated throughout the garden. These are the woods used by the Sussex trugmaker’s. The workshop is built from reclaimed oak, the steps from reclaimed bricks, the path is crushed sandstone. Piles of wood shavings from the trugmaking litter the floor of the workshop.

Click on each image to see the full 2:3 photograph.