Brixton based garden designer, Alexandra Hollingsworth, has created a ‘Suburban Sanctuary’ garden at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, an event which attracts over 100,000 visitors to the NEC in Birmingham and finishes this Sunday. Alex’s garden will also be featured on Gardeners’ World on BBC2 this evening, after which it will be available on iPlayer, writes Ethan Delcroix-Jones.
Alexandra says: “For many of us in Brixton, walking in our front door means descending into the subterranean world of the lower ground floor flat. Yet so many of these basement light-wells are sadly neglected.
“I hope this garden will inspire those of us living in urban areas with small outdoor spaces to see their potential, by providing practical ideas to bring light, joy and colour to seemingly unpromising outdoor spaces. Everything that can be re-used will be re-used and re-purposed after the show, ensuring nothing goes to waste.”
The theme of the project is “Greening grey Britain” and she reflects this through her reimagining of the basement. Instead of a claustrophobic, dimly lit space, Alexandra has created a vibrant and refreshing take on this area full of light and plants to provide an escape from the dull colours of city life. She even hopes that she can attract wildlife to the garden through her standing water, pollinator plants and places to perch.
This is the second show garden Alex has created, following her silver medal success at Bloom in the Park in Dublin in 2016.
You can find more information on the show here.
