A FORMER Pershore College student was awarded a prestigious Royal Horticultural Society silver medal for her first-ever garden at the world-famous Chelsea Flower Show.
Nikki Hollier, whose company Border In A Box sells gift-packaged, ready-made garden border templates, designed and created a beautiful container garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week.
The ‘Mandala, Meditation and Mindfulness Garden’ – one of five unique small space gardens on display this year – was a hit with media, television celebrities and VIPs on press day, and the general public for the rest of the week.
Many commented on the serenity and peace of Nikki’s pandemic-inspired garden, which was designed as a calm, yet rejuvenating haven in which to sit and reflect and listen to the bees humming and the birds singing. A beautiful water feature took centre stage against the backdrop of a muted violet wall with a mandala, surrounded by trees, white flowers and herbs.
“What a rollercoaster of a week! It’s hard to articulate what it’s like creating a garden at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show to be honest,” said Nikki.
“One minute I was chatting with Lady Edith from Downton Abbey, then having a giggle with comedian Tom Allen, but the highlight was seeing Her Majesty The Queen pass by my garden in her buggy.
“It’s been a long three weeks and I am exhausted, but I’ve created some lifelong friends and memories and I’m excited to see what projects come next.”
Nikki’s garden design story began ten years ago when she moved into a new-build house with its standard patch of turf and customary bare fence. Faced with an uninspiring outdoor space and working to a tight budget, she enrolled at the college, where she learned how to create beautiful borders.
She won a Silver Medal and the ‘People’s Choice Award’ at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival in 2016, where she met Alan Titchmarsh. Alan purchased the life-size sheep sculptures from her show garden and when she delivered them to him, he gave her a tour of his own garden.
Border in a Box was launched in 2017 and she went on to win Worcestershire Innovation’s ‘Make It Happen Challenge’ in 2018, and a Platinum and Best Border at BBC Gardeners’ World Live in the same year.
“Building gardens at Malvern and Birmingham taught me so much about the design process, the importance of attention to detail and the art of putting on a show,” she said.
“As it turns out, it was brilliant groundwork to get me in tune with the Chelsea experience and I am so thrilled that I was part of it this year.”
