Horatio’s Garden

Main Avenue’s 1st adaptive garden

Awarded the coveted Best in Show title and a Gold Medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, this adaptive garden put the priorities of all those with different mobility needs at its heart for the first time on Main Avenue.

Designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, this patient-led garden gave visitors to the show a sense of the hope and transformative effect having access to a Horatio’s Garden can have when coming to terms with a devastating spinal injury.  

Horatio’s Garden Chelsea was conceived to be a place of true respite for those affected by traumatic spinal injuries. Designed by Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg, this adaptive garden put the priorities of all those with different mobility needs at its heart and embraced the mission of Horatio’s Garden charity to nurture wellbeing after spinal injury.

Beginning its life at Chelsea Flower Show, before being relocated to its legacy home at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, the garden was the antithesis of a busy, clinical hospital setting where patients often spend many months on a ward with no privacy or access to outside space.

Every element of the garden was informed by the experiences of patients with spinal injuries. Planting was layered to accommodate different ways of seeing, a garden room provides welcome relief from the busy ward. Smooth, cement-free terrazzo paths were patient-friendly, environmentally-friendly and aesthetically beautiful.

The design was influenced by the stories, history and craftsmanship of the Sheffield region, connecting the garden to its legacy home where it will serve thousands of patients, families and NHS staff each year at the second largest spinal injury centre in the UK.

This new garden in Sheffield, also designed by us, will be the eighth Horatio’s Garden and support thousands of patients, relatives and NHS staff for years to come.

A behind-the-scenes look

Watch our Made in Sheffield series to get a behind the scenes look at the planning and creative process behind the making of Horatio’s Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2023.

Our garden design distills the key features found in all Horatio’s Gardens that patients told us they most value when using the garden. 

We spent months meeting and listening to patients and NHS staff to find out the elements we should include when designing the garden, including smooth, environmentally-friendly paths, natural, tactile materials, water and an all-season garden room.