Mark Gregory

“I was asked to pitch for the design of this garden and the brief was to demonstrate how beautiful Yorkshire is and what wonderful foods it produces. I wanted to pay homage to traditional artisan products such as Wensleydale cheese and to the unique Dales landscape it comes from.

“This will be my fifth design for Chelsea, and I’ve never done a 22x10m garden before or one that contains so many plants. I’ve never done a cottage garden, either, but it’s nice to be tested as a designer, and for me getting the planting right will be the challenge.

“There are two distinctive parts of the garden – the cottage garden around the bothy and the naturalistic landscape that it sits in – and these need to flow together. The cottage garden planting will be very blowsy and flowery with lots of vegetables mixed in. To achieve that seamless flow, I plan to use plants that ‘jump across’ from the cottage garden to the landscape. For example, there’ll be cultivated forms of foxglove and cow parsley in the cottage garden and wild forms over the wall.

“This is a very specific landscape and the detailing will make it authentic. The sheep gate across the stream is tied to the wall on each side with baler twine, and the wall will be topped with stock wire as it often is on Dales farms.

“I think one of the tricks of good design is not to see everything at one go. As you move around this garden, three different views will be revealed. The idea is to inspire people to visit Yorkshire and experience its natural beauty.”