Bringing together community spirit and mental health awareness, The Glade invites visitors to reconnect with the natural world.
Community driven green spaces have increasingly been recognised for their mental and physical benefits, as well as their ability in many cases to encourage recreation, relaxation, and engagement with nature.
In a report published by the Mental Health Foundation in 2021, researchers coined the phrase ‘connectedness’ to describe the ideal relationship between us and nature, referring to the way we relate to and experience nature, highlighting the ways we can get the most out of our green spaces, and underscoring the importance of such spaces.
The winning design for the 2025 RHS Design & Build competition looks to provide one such space. Designed by Level 4 RHS Diploma in Horticultural Practice student, Lucy Stephens based at RHS Garden Wisley, The Glade has been brought to life at mental health charity, Dose of Nature’s Guildford site at the National Trust’s Dapdune Wharf. “I have responded to the brief [given by the charity] by aiming to create a welcoming and interactive space where anyone using the garden can feel immersed in nature”, says Stephens.
Lucy Stephens. Credit: RHS/Ollie Dixon
Inspired by the visual of an unfurling fern, the new community garden has been designed with community engagement and environmental connection in mind. “In the brief fractal patterns were mentioned and I really liked this idea of these repeated patterns throughout nature being healing.” The sweeping and curved pathways, while took longer than a straight path would have to lay, were “worth it” for the end effect, adds Stephens.
Key areas of the garden include a craft coppice with hazels and dogwood to cut and use as weaving materials, a foraging area to harvest edibles, a dedicated seating area for socialising and nature observation, and a yoga area. “These are all intended to encourage strengthening the visitor’s connection to nature and helping them feel restored in doing so”, says Stephens. Dr Cat Huckle, lead psychologist at Dose of Nature adds “the imagery of a light clearing in the dark resonated with [Dose of Nature] and [its] work. [The Charity’s] clients will be able to seek refuge and peace here and access our group activities in a truly restorative setting.”
One of the gardens standout features is the newly established wildlife pond, created by fellow diploma student Conor Craig to further encourage biodiversity and foster the site’s ecological health. “A lot of materials, including old paving slabs and turf, were used to fill half the pond, meaning they didn’t need to be thrown away.”
Credit: RHS/Ollie Dixon
The garden was built over a period of five days by Stephens and the fellow members of her cohort, all lead by landscape tutor, David Wallbridge. The team were also joined by Dose of Nature clients, volunteers, and staff to help in the build.
Stephens own love for being outdoors and surrounded by nature is echoed throughout the area, with zones not only for community engagement, but with space also given over to the local wildlife as well. “The garden has a strong focus on encouraging wildlife, with large amounts of pollinator friendly planting, a habitat wall and wildlife houses throughout.”
The planting pallet is made up of cultivated versions of species commonly found along river banks and canals, and well suited to the shady conditions of the garden, such as lythrum salicaria, eupatorium cannabinum, and filipendula ulmaria – all of which can be found on the RHS’s recently updated Plants for Pollinators list, which now boasts nearly 10k plants, equating to almost 15% of all plants available to buy in the UK. Stephens notes the planting was also purposefully selected to “help the garden blend in with its surroundings”, harmonising the old and new to create a cohesive and vibrant environment.
The space is now in the hands of Dose of Nature, which will incorporate the gardens maintenance into the group activities it carries out as part of the charity’s nature-lead prescription programme, for which the site is already being incorporated into to continue fostering connectedness with nature.
Read Pro Landscaper’s Autumn Public Spaces Special here.
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