Gardens designed by experts based in Cornwall are set to impress visitors to a national show being held at the NEC in Birmingham.

Torpoint-based designer Paul Stone has created the headline show garden for BBC Gardeners’ World Live, while Newquay desiger Kim Parish and garden design company Landscapes of Distinction will be exhibiting the Fontana Tranquillity Garden. 

Paul has designed A Garden Fit for a King, which marks the coronation of Charles III, for the show on June 15-18.

The large-scale walk-through design is inspired by the gardens, wildflower meadow and arboretum at the King’s Highgrove House, and celebrates the sovereign’s passion for gardening and concern for the environment. 

Paul, who helped create the Eden Project gardens in Cornwall and who has won three platinum awards and best in show at BBC Gardeners’ World Live plus awards at the Chelsea and Hampton Court shows, will be hosting talks about how to recreate elements of the garden at home.  

Paul said: “The standout feature of A Garden Fit for a King will be that everything in it has a connected purpose and design: habitats for sun and shade, dry and damp, trees and wildflowers, all combining for a setting that is good for the soul but also for the living things that support and are supported within it. 

“I have heard the King say that a very important thing about Highgrove, about what he does there and what I believe him to be recommending to us all, is to trust in nature. It’s important to me that A Garden Fit for a King delivers this message. 

“I hope the combination of all the aspects of the garden will promote the idea of gardening focusing on the use of naturally derived products, and will promote organic, sustainable research and practice.”

Rachel Poletti-Gadd, one of the organisiers of the show, said: “In this special coronation year, Paul Stone’s headline design will be a major attraction and we can’t wait for visitors to see it and to take inspiration from it back to their gardens at home.” 

Meanwhile, Kim Parish will be exhibiting the Fontana Tranquillity Garden at BBC Gardener’s World Live before it’s unveiled at Cornwall Hospice Care in St Austell on August 20 for the benefit patients, families and staff. 

Kim is working on the garden, which celebrates Cornwall and Cornish gardens, with 91-year-old sponsor Derek Bishop, of Kearn Estates, who aims to fulfil his life-long ambition to be part of a show garden.

Kim took inspiration from Cornwall’s great gardens and Derek’s own magnificent 14-acre garden near Fowey. 

The show garden celebrates the diversity of planting opportunities in Cornwall, and its highlights include tropical and sub-tropical zones, as befits the temperate Cornish climate, featuring tree ferns, banana plants and a striking wedding cake tree, coastal-inspired planting, and a raised pool. 

Cornwall Hospice Care is filming all aspects of the garden, including the background work. The hospice is keen to promote the garden and its sponsors and supporters.  

Kim said: “I am passionate about the power of nature and the support and comfort it can provide. 

“It has been a longstanding ambition to gift a garden and it is a privilege to be working with Derek and Cornwall Hospice Care to deliver this very special gift.”

Kim has designed and built several show gardens at BBC Gardener’s World Live. In 2021, she was awarded a gold award and, in 2022, won the People’s Choice award.