A special garden created by a Newquay garden designer will feature on television tonight. (Friday)
The Fontana Tranquillity Garden designed by Kim Parish and garden design company Landscapes of Distinction in Mitchell will appear on the BBC's Gardener's World programme on BBC2 at 8pm.
The garden is being showcased at BBC Gardener’s World Live at the NEC Birmingham where it was awarded a Silver Merit before it's planted in the grounds of Mount Edgcumbe Hospice.
The garden show was opened by celebrity gardener Monty Don presenting from the Fontana Tranquillity Garden.
Kim worked on the garden, which celebrates Cornwall and Cornish gardens, with 91-year-old sponsor Derek Bishop, of Kearn Estates, who is fulfilling his life-long ambition to be part of a show garden.
Kim took inspiration from Cornwall’s great gardens and Derek’s own magnificent 14-acre garden near Fowey.
The show garden celebrates the diversity of planting opportunities in Cornwall, and highlights include tropical and sub-tropical zones, as befits the temperate Cornish climate, featuring tree ferns, banana plants and a striking wedding cake tree (Cornus Controversa), coastal-inspired planting, and a raised pool.
Visitors have been journeying through the garden enjoying several intimate seating areas and ascend to a treetop outside room, whilst listening to the cascading water.
Kim said: “The Fontana Tranquillity Garden has been attracting a huge amount of attention and proving extremely popular.
“The public have been very moved by the fact it will be transported back to Cornwall to provide patients, their families and the staff and volunteers with a place to find peace, comfort and calm.”
The garden will open at Cornwall Hospice Care on August 20 where it will provide a haven for patients, their families and staff to find peace, comfort and calm.
Kim said: “I am passionate about the power of nature and the support and comfort it can provide.
“It has been a longstanding ambition to gift a garden and it is a privilege to be working with Derek and Cornwall Hospice Care to deliver this very special gift.
“The garden will offer quiet contemplation and feature a treetop outside room, two intimate seating areas and a beautiful pond with running water. For patients with more limited mobility the garden can be seen from bedrooms and the patient lounge.
“We believe it is an amazing opportunity to help people at a difficult time of their lives.”
Gina Starnes, the Hospice charity director, said: “The Fontana Garden’s journey doesn't end at BBC Gardener’s World Live.
“After the event at the NEC it'll be carefully packed up and transported back to Cornwall and to Mount Edgcumbe Hospice in St Austell.
“We’re extremely humbled by Derek Bishop's generous donation of the garden to our Hospice where it will offer a place of solace and comfort for our patients, their families and our staff and volunteers.”
Kim Parish has designed and built several show gardens at BBC Gardener’s World Live. In 2021 she was awarded Gold and in 2022 won the People's Choice for her work. Both gardens featured on the television programme Gardener’s World.