A GARDENER is preparing a visual feast for this year’s RHS Show Tatton Park.

Designer Tony Heywood makes his RHS debut at Tatton.

Acclaimed as being at the forefront of the UK’s conceptual garden scene, Heywood will encapsulate the essence of his favourite landscapes in the UK by creating revelatory replica worlds within the confines of self-contained steel chambers.

Having filmed his visits to Formby Beach in Merseyside, Tintagel in Cornwall and the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, Heywood then intensified his experiences through a shamanistic practise known as ‘meditative journeying’.

He then returned to his studio to relive the experience wearing virtual simulation eyewear. During the replay he etched what amounts to a graphic expression of the film onto the walls and floors of each steel chamber. This initial artwork then provided the template from which he went on to construct a real abstract landscape. Bejewelled and highly ornate, it is intended to dazzle as well as to present an almost hallucinogenic experience reflecting the visionary, alternative reality he experienced during his meditative journey.

A ritual performance during the show will further highlight how Tony envisages these chambers being used as personalised landscapes of contemplation.

Tony said: “Tatton will be my first experience of exhibiting at an RHS show and with its reputation as a stage for fresh ideas and new garden design techniques there is certainly a great synergy with my work.

“Ultimately, I hope my garden will inspire discussion on how landscapes and gardens work as well as spark debate about how they should be experienced.”

Tatton show manager Kris Hulewicz said: “Every year we are stunned by the creativity that is embedded into the garden design we see at the show but I think Tony’s installation will become a real centre-piece of this year’s event.”

Tony’s conceptual approach to garden design is extended to the Visionary Gardens category at Tatton where six exhibitors selected by an expert judging panel will create gardens using futuristic design ideas and sustainable gardening methods.

For more details, visit www.rhs.org.uk/tatton.