Introducing Charlie Bloom, Our New Gardener
We are delighted to have Charlie join the team at Riverhill. Since she started with us a few months back she has mainly been focusing on our beautiful Walled Garden and has taken an already stunning space and really put her own stamp on it.
Recent visitors will have noticed how much the veg beds on the top level have changed this season and this is all down to Charlie’s implementation of a ‘pottager’ planting scheme. Where a mix of cut flowers, edibles and medicinal plants are all grown together in one space. It is a return to the old-fashioned way of growing ‘useful’ plants together in one space. The result is a natural looking, riot of texture, colour and scent.
Charlie has also salvaged some amazing treasures from the tunnels under the old green houses, a hidden gem not open to visitors. So, you will now find little pots and spades in amongst the planting, bringing new life and a sense of fun to the area. It really is a perfect spot to sit and enjoy the gentle sound of the fountains below.
Charlie has 5 RHS medals to her name and has a RHS advanced certificate in horticultural . She specialises in large scale herbaceous border design, implementation and maintenance. Below is a small excerpt from her impressive CV:
RHS Silver Medal Hampton Court 2018
RHS Silver Gilt Medal Hampton Court 2017
RHS Bronze Medal Hampton Court 2015
RHS Silver Medal and National Television coverage of 'Colour in Contrast'
One of Roger Platts chosen young designers to feature under his mentorship in The Metamorphosis Class at BBC Gardeners World Live/ RHS Birmingham Flower Show 2014
RHS Bronze Medal Show Garden BBC Gardeners World Live 2013
In 2017 Charlie created Colour Box, a show Garden at the Hampton Court Garden Show, designed to be “a celebration of the way gardeners help each other, coming together to produce something beautiful and colourful”.
The aim of the garden was to be an antidote to the big budgets of the larger show gardens with the focus on plants and people. It was full of joyful colour clashes from herbaceous perennials and grasses including Imperata cylindrica 'Rubra' and many achilleas.
The garden is the result of asking for ‘help’ – the vision was to produce something beautiful, despite having no financial sponsorship, and shows what can be achieved with a small budget. The team came together through the active and supportive horticultural Twitter community and represent a diverse group of people and trades.
Charlie’s winning entry
In 2016 Charlie won Britain’s Best Bush for her beautiful hedge ball creation, taking 62% of the public vote. She was revealed as the winner live on ITV’s This Morning where she showed presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how to properly trim and tidy!
Charlie had this to say about her winning creation: “The winning entry belongs to Mrs Katie Killingbeck and is part of a historic formal Italianate Garden in Kent. It is an established piece of boxus sempervirens hedge and ball topiary and has been present in the garden for many years. My job has been to restore large parts of the formal boxus hedge and specimen topiaries in the garden over the last six years.”
I hope you have enjoyed learning more about the endlessly fascinating Charlie Bloom. She is usually in the Gardens Thursday - Saturday so if you see her around please do say hello and I look forward to updating you on what she does next, I am sure it will be anything but dull!