Seminar Agenda

Liz Nicholson will talk us through the Elemental app and how it was used at this year’s RHS Shows to enhance the sustainability of the Show Gardens. She will then introduce Allon Hoskin who won the Environmental Innovation Award for his garden at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show as result. Allon will be highlighting some of the key techniques and materials which helped achieve this.

This panel discussion featuring senior RHS judges will focus on the RHS Garden judging criteria and how to achieve the best possible medal. Eleanor will guide us through these criteria, with contributions from the judges to highlight examples of great design from this years’ shows.

Sophia will be in conversation with Addleshaw Goddard - which has so far sponsored gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2024 and 2025 - to find out what keeps it coming back to create gardens at the show. She will also be joined by Joe Carey who designed its garden at the show in 2025, to find out about working with show garden sponsors from a designers’ point of view.

Charlotte Armer is a veteran show garden planter regularly leading planting teams for both established and emerging designers. Fresh from supporting Carey Garden Design Studio in its two 2025 RHS Gold medal winning show gardens, Charlotte will take you behind the scenes of planting week. Whether you plan to plant yourself or run a team, she will be offering insights, tips and helpful hacks to help you execute a show worthy planting finish.

Earlier this year, the industry launched Elemental. This ‘green’ design tool based on the six pillars of environmental design was developed to help garden designers, landscape architects, design and build landscape companies and gardeners to create gardens and landscapes that have a lower environmental impact. This session will explore what Elemental is and why the industry needs it.

This session will show how Elemental, the industry’s ‘green’ design tool can be used in practice to reduce embodied carbon, minimise waste through material management, promote biodiversity, protect the soil, harness water within the site, improve air quality, and make landscapes for people and communities along with a case study.

Emma Mazzullo FSGLD and James Scott FSGLD will lead a new-look Accreditation advice session. They will speak from experience about the professional benefits of going through the SGLD Accreditation process – including how it shaped their practice and career trajectory. Attendees considering registration can also bring portfolios for discussion and feedback from panel members in a private session following the talk.

Helen will explore and discuss her design process with illustrations from her portfolio, covering site analysis (what it is and why we do it), what we should consider during construction (and why that matters) and why as designers and contractors we only start gardens and so leads to gardening. Along the way Helen will take a look at soils, trees, climate and native vs non-native plants.

The panel will be chaired by John Wyer FSGLD, who contributed to Elemental’s development. Panel members will include Helen Elks-Smith and Rachel Bailey, together with Rupert Keys and David Stevens FSGLD, offering decades of combined insight across design, construction and education. Expect wide-ranging conversation that moves between practical application, career development, and future-facing design thinking.