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A Letter from a Million Years Past
RHS Flower Shows · 2023
A Letter from a Million Years Past
Designed by Jihae Hwang, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023
Jihae Hwang’s Gold medal-winning show garden for the Hoban Cultural Foundation, evoking the mountains, forests and streams of Jirisan, South Korea’s largest national park.
Project facts
Designer
Jihae Hwang
Sponsor
Hoban Cultural Foundation
Award
RHS Gold Medal, Show Gardens
Show
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023
Form’s role
Plant sourcing and supply, and project management of the whole delivery
The project
Jirisan, the “mother mountain” of Korea, holds some of the country’s last primeval forest and is home to native medicinal herbs, specialist plants and rare alpine species. Jihae Hwang’s garden brought a slice of that landscape to Chelsea, telling a story that stretches back a million years and asking how we can live alongside nature rather than simply look at it.
More than 200 tonnes of rock were layered along small streams to evoke the mountainside, sheltering the planting and holding moisture. At the foot of the slope stood a traditional Korean herb drying tower, built with rock and soil walls using traditional techniques.
What Form did
Form Plants sourced and supplied the planting, working with specialist nurseries across the country to find the plants the design called for. It was a brilliant example of horticultural collaboration with real specialists.
We also project managed the whole delivery of the garden, through months of planning and a build of a little under three weeks on site.
After the show, plants from the garden were donated to Maggie’s, the cancer support charity.
Photograph coming soon
A Letter from a Million Years Past
Photograph coming soon
A Letter from a Million Years Past
The planting
A naturalistic, layered planting of trees, shrubs, ferns, woodland perennials and medicinal herbs, chosen to evoke the forest floor and streamsides of Jirisan. At its heart were endangered Korean natives, including Filipendula formosa, whose pink flowers were a focal point of the garden.
Many of the plants are rarely grown in the UK, so finding them meant working closely with specialist growers across the country, each bringing their own expertise to the garden.
Gallery
Photograph coming soon
Photograph coming soon
Photograph coming soon
Photograph coming soon
Photograph coming soon
Photograph coming soon
Planning your next show garden or installation?
From RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens to fashion runways and royal events, Form brings exceptional plants, expert sourcing and seamless logistics to every project. We would love to hear about yours.