Horticultural career changer and RHS student, Felicity Gray, completes debut Woking project, transforming a nature deprived site into a community enriched space in just seven days.

Every year, students on the Level 4 RHS Diploma in Horticultural Practice at RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey, put forward a ‘Design and Build’ project. The winning design is then built by the students.

Felicity Gray made the switch from fashion to horticulture after she “longed to be outside.”

This year’s winner, ‘The Generous Garden’, designed by Felicity Gray, has now been completed on site at ShopWise in Sheerwater, Woking. Rejuvenating an existing public realm into a nature enthused and community driven green space.

Gray discusses how she and her team of fellow students found the overall process of her debut build, guided by David Wallbridge:

“The overall build process went very smoothly, as many of us RHS students and staff are career changers, we all brought different strengths to the team which worked well when faced with different challenges.”

Commenting on the site’s “devoid” lack of planting, Gray says she, the team, and local community felt a real sense of achievement in being able to transform the site with an abundance of new planting, with a large number of them also being edible.

But that’s not to say the build was without its challenges, as Gray explains:

“We knew that the ground was likely to be very hard after years of being under astroturf and compaction, but we didn’t realise quite how hard it would be. Despite using a rotovator over the soil several times, we were resorting to mattocks for some planting!”

The Generous Garden, designed “give to the community as much as the community gives to it”, is Gray’s debut garden design and build. Watching it come to life was a moment she describes as “surreal”.

“I felt very lucky/grateful to have had the opportunity to put it into reality. Having never designed and built a garden before I wasn’t sure exactly how it would translate from paper to life but it was exactly how I imagined it to be.”

With just seven days to complete, the project’s build up time restraints meant Gray needed to adapt her initial designs, ensuring none of the features were “too hard to materialise”.

“I minimised the amount of hard landscaping to what was possible to achieve in a week, and what was required, was kept simple.”

Sustainability at the centre

To prove truly beneficial to the local community, alongside its naturalistic and resource benefits, Gray ensured “as little waste went-off site as possible”.

“Half the site is covered in astroturf; rather than remove the astroturf completely and send it to landfill, we cut beds out of it, used the offcuts to fix repairs needed and brushed over it to remove any moss.”

Excess turf and wood based materials were incorporated into a purpose installed dead hedge. Two compost bins and a leaf litter bin were also installed and “instantly put to work use,” says Gray.

“Raised planters and benches were dismantled and reused on site and the Wendy House was given a new roof and lick of paint.”

Community maintenance

The site will be regularly visited by the RHS Wisley Community Outreach Team for the first year, guiding members of the local community in how to maintain the garden.

ShopWise Design and Build Project 2024

“It is hoped local community groups will maintain and use it as a space to learn and practise new gardening skills.”

And with her first design and build under her belt, there was only one thing she would change if she could;

“Just the time of year we were building in, ideally we would have built the garden in the autumn to allow the plants time to root and establish before the dry spells in summer.”

She and the team are hopeful that the community “enjoys using the garden as much as they enjoyed building it.”

For more information about RHS Wisley Level 4 Diploma of Horticultural Practice, visit www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/qualifications-and-training/work-based-training/rhs-diploma