Magna Carta and World War Two to Edo Japan and Yorkshire ale: Six small gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Runnymede Surrey Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Garden

This small artisan garden celebrates Magna Carta being sealed under oath by King John all those years ago – immortally, the first legal document imposed upon an English sovereign by a group of his subjects.

Its formal layout, planting and features are intended to be reminiscent of medieval gardens, with a wattle arbour set over a turf bench to provide support for climbing plants, raised beds, heraldic pennants and a symmetrical set-up symbolising the new law and order of the time – not to mention a meadow-planted bed based on Runnymede meadow.

A Trugmaker's Garden

This design celebrates the dying artisan craftsmanship of the Sussex trugmakers behind the iconic willow and sweet chestnut garden trugs for more than 200 years.

A traditional timber workshop and a vibrant planting scheme recreate the way in which trugmakers would seek to lure passing trade, including tools still used today.

Edo no Niwa - Edo Gardens

This garden reflects the Edo period in Japan, when horticulture was designed for people of all classes and wealth.

Guests can walk through the garden to enter the main house. And when viewed from inside the house, the green garden and home are meant to become a single, cohesive space.

Evaders Garden

Stan Everiss, the father of the designer who created this garden for Chorley Council, was an RAF evader who was helped to freedom by French citizens in a series of acts of selfless bravery after he was shot down in 1943.

Reflecting the story, a sculpture shows a young pilot seconds after parachuting to earth, hiding in the ruins of a war-damaged church and looking up to a stained glass window where two young French people reach out to help. The wall is engraved with a code poem of the names of Resistance fighters.

Brewers Yard

Welcome to Yorkshire’s celebration of the county’s breweries and ales features a shed and water feature, inspired by micro-brewing in a combination of traditional materials and techniques.

The stylised design marks the sixth appearance at Chelsea by a group who previously dedicated their gardens to the Brontë sisters and that timeless dessert – rhubarb and crumble.

The Old Forge

Taking a nostalgic look at a time when wildflowers were more prevalent, this once-occupied forge is now neglected due to the blacksmith’s motor neurone disease.

Bare areas of land have been left to nature, populated by native wildflowers. A horse chestnut tree, stream and objects are all reminders of an age when the village blacksmith was an important artisan.

• See more of the exhibitors at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2015.

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Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/architecture-and-design/art527091-magna-carta-and-world-war-two-to-edo-japan-and-yorkshire-ale-six-small-gardens-at-the-chelsea-flower-show