Garden Designer - Jinny Blom
Working with B&Q and Sentebale
Creating Awareness
The Forget-me-not garden designed by Jinny Blom was built to raise awareness of the work of Prince Harry's charity, which supports vulnerable children in Lesotho.
Sentebale was set up by Harry in 2006 following a gap year visit to the tiny - and hugely impoverished - African kingdom of Lesotho. He was so moved by the experience that he vowed to spend the rest of his life helping the youngest victims of the country’s HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Sentebale works in partnership with organisations of all sized to support Lesotho’s most vulnerable children.
Elements of the garden
Jinny was inspired by the landscape of Lesotho itself and the culture of its people when creating the design.
Above: Sketch of the garden
Above: Jinny has used the landscpe of Lesotho as an inspiration for the design. The traditional attire of the people revolves around the Basotho blanket, a thick covering made primarily of wool. The blankets are ubiquitous throughout the country. Jinny has added a pattern to the large circular stone at the front of her design.
The round rondavel is traditional structure found within Lesotho where the mortar may consist of sand, soil, or combinations of these, mixed with cow dung. Traditionally people elaborately carve, paint, or decorate the outside wall that has been finished off with dung. In other places, people leave their rondavels undecorated.
Above: Flowers that are native to Lesotho were used within the garden. The majority of the poppies had not opened for the morning of judging.
Above: The RHS judging panel visit the garden
Above: Kirstie Allsopp opens the garden with Jinny Blom
Useful Links:
Jinny Blom Landscape Design: www.jinnyblom.com
Setebale Charity: http://www.sentebale.org