Meet the Designer Rachel Platt

We have partnered with last year’s RHS Young Designer of the Year finalist, Rachel Platt, who designed our ‘Chained to Tech’ garden. We decided to ask her all about her style and inspiration so you can get to know the genius behind the exhibition.

Have you always loved gardening?

Yes, growing up my dad gave me a love of propagation. He absolutely loves propagating plants and over the years that turned into me learning how to grow things. We’d go around garden centres and RHS Gardens too, so I think it was mainly my dad that got me into gardening and since then, the passion has grown.

How did you get into garden design?

I didn’t know you could do it as a career! When I would walk around RHS shows when I was younger, it was not advertised as a possible career. But then I went to university, and I studied how nature and culture interact in various mediums, like paintings and music, and I found it fascinating. I decided to do a dissertation on a landscape garden by Capability Brown. I always knew I wanted to do something design-wise, and I was thinking of doing fashion design, but after doing geography at university and realising I wanted to use the environment in my design work, that’s how I then came up with the idea. After university, I did a bit of research and realised you could do this as a career, so I just went for it, got stuck in, and saved up the money to be able to do the course.

What’s been the biggest challenge with the show garden?

My biggest challenge so far has been the weather because we’ve had a lot of heavy frosts, and we’re using a lot of drought-tolerant and Mediterranean plants, so that has had a little bit of an impact on what we can use at the show. Some plants had a bit of frost damage or weren’t looking good, and some plants have come up too quickly, so we’re very much adapting to that now but we’ve got a great plant selection to choose from, but yeah, I’d say that’s probably been the biggest challenge so far.

What’s your design process?

I start with a survey of the land because it helps to plan. For example, where do you need steps? Or where would you need to change the levels in the garden? I then speak to the client to see exactly what they’d like. For instance, with the ‘Chained to Tech’ garden, we knew it was going to be about mental health, specifically how technology affects mental health. Then, once you’ve got the garden size, lay of the land and an idea of what the client wants, I turn to geometry and playing with shapes. I then do a 3D perspective, which gives an idea of how it’s going to look, where things are going to go, and what style you’re going for.

What can people look forward to the most about the ‘Chained to Tech’ Garden?

I think the thing people can most look forward to is the planting scheme. People are passionate about plants at Tatton, and I think they are going to see a lot of interesting shapes, forms, and lots of colour. It’s going to be bold; it’s going to have lots of contrast, it’s going to be quite hot compared to last year, when I did a woodland theme. The design is a bit different, but I think people will love it as it embodies the colour, vibrancy, and joyfulness that you see at Tatton.

• Rachel studied Garden Design at the Oxford College of Garden Design, graduating with distinction.

• She set up her own design practice, ‘Rachel Platt Garden Design’, during her postgraduate diploma course.

• Her awards include runner up Young Designer of the Year: Best Construction and Peoples Choice at RHS Tatton Park 2022 as well as Pro Landscaper’s 30 under 30.