Don\u2019t miss our guide to everything you need to know about the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023<\/a> and our list this year\u2019s main show gardens<\/a>.<\/p>\n GARDEN PROFILE<\/strong> <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Here\u2019s what Darren told us about his garden.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted this garden to reflect the lived experience of the many people who call Samaritans. It couldn\u2019t just be about hope and joy, it had to consider the pain, struggle, fear and distress that some people suffer.\u201d Darren\u2019s design for the Samaritans\u2019 Listening Garden takes a conceptual approach to mimicking some of the feelings of the callers to this well-known, 70-year-old, volunteer-run \u2018listening\u2019 charity \u2013 from the sense of anxiety when picking up the phone, to having to confront and reveal uncomfortable emotions, to the relief of being listened to.<\/p>\n Plants at the front of the garden conjure a sense of oppression or nervousness, such as Aralia chapaensis<\/em> (Cr\u00fbg Farm Plants\u2019 complete stock), Corokia<\/em> (with its zigzagging branches), thistle- like Eryngium<\/em><\/a> and thorny Rosa<\/em><\/a>. A deeply fissured path<\/a> of concrete slabs leads through the garden to a steel-frame piece hung with more huge, broken concrete pieces, before moving to a more positive space, complete with a series of large wooden seats<\/a> created by German artist Thomas R\u00f6sler, inviting moments of pause, conversation and resolution.<\/p>\n Here the planting is lighter and brighter. As Darren explains: \u201cThe same spiky and spiny plants we use at the front of the garden still appear, but as part of a matrix rather than being dominant \u2013 being in that emotionally lighter space allows you to acknowledge obstacles but to see them from a different perspective.<\/p>\n \u201cThe garden will be really exciting and bold \u2013 more of an installation. It\u2019s both a message about Samaritans and also a personal attempt to express what it feels like to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n What to look out for<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 Recycled concrete from a farmyard in Darren\u2019s home county of Cornwall. The broken slabs have been used in different forms throughout the garden, as hung panels, walling and edging. \u201cThe wood and steel used are all repurposed from local farms, too\u201d. Sign up to our Chelsea Flower Show Daily Digest newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n Chelsea Flower Show 2023: tickets, information, dates and what\u2019s on<\/a><\/p>\n Chelsea Flower Show Main Show Gardens 2023: the full list<\/a><\/p>\n 10 essentials for visiting the RHS Chelsea Flower Show<\/a><\/p>\n![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/18\/2022\/10\/Samaritans-Listening-Garden-designed-by-Darren-Hawkes-360ec56.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C333"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> More on the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show:<\/h3>\n
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