Tom Massey

“The sponsor, the Lemon Tree Trust [see issue 257, page 80], wanted a garden that would display the ingenuity, beauty and resourcefulness of the gardens made by refugees in Domiz camp in northern Iraq. It also wanted to showcase the work it’s doing to encourage people to green their spaces and improve their living conditions.

“I had lots of videos and footage of the refugees’ gardens for inspiration, but rather than use every single idea I picked out things that I felt would work well in the context of the Chelsea Flower Show. One of my main challenges was to reign in the Chelsea aesthetic to create something that works for the show but also has that element of rawness. All the materials in the garden are widely available in the camp – steel, concrete, timber – but we’re elevating these materials in the way they’re constructed. For example, the concrete will be polished, the timber will be meticulously cut and crafted, and the steel will be laser cut into intricate Islamic inspired designs. It’s a fine balance to get something that has integrity and references to the camp but also works as a Main Avenue garden at Chelsea.

“The people living in Domiz camp have such small plots they don’t have space for a productive bed and a separate ornamental area, so they mix ornamentals with edibles. Our garden will have mixed planting, too, and it will be very colourful. I want it to have a joyful feeling. We are using some of the edibles grown in the camp such as fenugreek and chickpeas, which may not be familiar to UK gardeners.”