On Tuesday 16 July, This Garden Isn’t Finished Without You, the first garden sponsored by the Methodist Church at the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, was awarded a Gold medal, the Environmental Innovation Award and the Best Show Garden Prize.
“I’m incredibly proud,” said CTE President Rev Canon Helen Cameron, who is also the 2024-25 President of the Methodist Conference. “One of the things that most churches have is a bit of ground space…and it would be possible for them to have something lovely, a place for people to meet and be affected by the beauty. It would help the planet because we’d be helping in terms of pollination and insects and biodiversity.” “A conversation about faith, it seems to me, is easier if you’re sat in a garden,” she added.
The garden illustrated the Methodist Church in Great Britain’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and sustainability.
It was designed by Ollie Pike from Pike Studio. Ollie was inspired by “the amazing communities found in Methodist churches across the UK. The layout is abstracted from the typical floorplan of a Methodist church to create a beautiful communal space. The planting has diversity from across the world and is most beautiful when combined together as a community.
“Cork walls wrap the boundaries of the garden to create a soft and textural sanctuary whilst large Fig trees provide shelter. Large woven willow sculptures with three distinct forms symbolise how we are all uniquely made in the image of God. All of this is centred around an open table where people can come together to encounter each other.”
A team of 30 volunteers from Knutsford Methodist Church helped introduce the garden and the ideas behind it to the Show’s visitors. For some of them, it was their first experience of a mission project.
Superintendent Minister Rev Alan Bradley from the nearby Alderley Edge and Knutsford Methodist circuit explained why being at the event was such a great opportunity for outreach:
Now that the Tatton Show is finished the garden will be relocated to nearby Mobberley Methodist Church. It will replace a disused tarmac car park and lawn and will become a wellbeing space for anyone to visit. Here the garden will achieve net zero by 2030 when it will have absorbed more carbon than its creation produced.