Thrive, the national charity promoting gardening for health and wellbeing is inspiring tens of thousands of visitors at BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC Birmingham this summer with a stunning Beautiful Border offering a place to pause, rest and reflect with nature.
Always popular at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, the Beautiful Borders are miniature 9m2 show gardens, packed with creative planting and design inspiration for small gardens and challenging spaces. This year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders theme is ‘Share My Space’ which is all about harnessing the potential of small garden spaces and using them as catalysts for building a sense of community through gardening.
Thrive’s Border, Step into our Garden - Sharing our space with wildlife inspires people to welcome wildlife and experience nature’s positive mental health benefits, through small steps.
Designed by Alexandra Bailey, Client and Garden Manager at Thrive Birmingham, in collaboration with the charity’s women only Mental Health Growing Out group and client gardeners, the Border immerses visitors in nature, supports pollinators and stimulates the senses.
A sensory pebbled path flows around native nectar rich planting beneficial for lifting spirits, evoking memories and relaxation through tactile drifts of scented blooms and soft leaves. Stone hues, silvers and blues contrast with pops of pinks, purples and oranges. Natural and repurposed materials create features and structures for planted areas and interest, visitor seclusion and for creatures to shelter. All materials and plants will be reused in Thrive’s local Birmingham gardens.
The Border has been generously supported by Flexible Business Solutions, LOFA (The Leisure and Outdoor Furniture Association), SVMA (The Engineering and Building Services Consultancy), Pershore Nurseries and Earlswood Nurseries.
Designer, Alexandra Bailey, Client and Garden Manager at Thrive, Birmingham said: “We are thrilled to be at BBC Gardeners’ World Live this year to share nature’s positive mental health benefits. We’ve taken small steps towards making our space welcoming to wildlife that can be experienced at home or within the community to help people to pause, rest and reflect in a garden space whenever they need to.”
Lucy Tremlett, Head of the Horticultural Division at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World Live, said: “No matter what size garden or level of gardening experience you have, it’s impossible to spend a day at BBC Gardeners’ World Live without feeling inspired. We know that this exciting Beautiful Border will give visitors some wonderful ideas to take home.”
Visit Thrive’s Beautiful Border Step into our Garden - Sharing our space with wildlife at BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC Birmingham from 13-16 June at Beautiful Border 15.