The Transcendence Garden, a beautiful 'Memento Mori' moment at RHS Chelsea 2023

"The Memoria & GreenAcres Transcendence Garden at RHS Chelsea 2023 is designed by landscape architects Gavin McWilliams and Andrew Wilson and delivers an uplifting, spiritual, and inspiring space, reflecting the emotional and cultural shared experience at the end of life and death.?

One of the best ways to open a conversation about death and dying is to talk about your own experiences and this is exactly what Gavin did with me whilst standing in his garden which left me reflecting on my life and the loss of my Dad at a young age. Gavin and Andrew have created a beautiful and unique space and place to do just this, it is more than just a show garden. Mentioning what happened or how you felt can encourage others to open up about their own feelings and emotions.?

I’ve been privileged to be a guest at RHS Chelsea these past few days and I was incredibly moved during this time to see (and hear) other people open up about their own personal journey in life when viewing and visiting the Transcendence Garden.?

People find death a difficult topic to discuss as it usually brings up a lot of feelings: anxiety, fear, awkwardness, and sadness. We tend to pretend, as a culture, that it's not going to happen.

It’s incredibly important to take care to be real and honest with people. The Transcendence Garden is the personification of these feelings. It has reminded me that in a world where we can be anything, we should be kind.?

My own Dad was just 61 when he suddenly died in August 2007, it was a shock to us all and it happened literally a few weeks after Andrée and I won our first RHS Gold Medal and RHS/ BBC People’s Choice Award. The moment we were presented with our RHS Gold Medal I called my Dad on his market stall in Warrington. I think it was the only time in my life that he said “You’ve made me proud son" he continued "You’ve created something special, this is going to be big”.?

He really wasn't wrong, after my Dad died our Playscape Show Garden went on to become a pocket park in west London and be the case study example that would unlock a ￡225 million pound government investment in public nature play spaces across the UK.

Playscape changed the way playgrounds in the UK would be designed, created, and managed forever. The pocket park is still there and as popular as ever.?It led to Andree and I establishing Davies White Landscape Architects in 2008 and the rest is history.

In 2017, some ten years later Andree and I returned to design and create our second show garden. The Zoflora and Caudwell Children’s Wild Garden for children with autism topped our 2007 garden and went on to win RHS Gold, BBC People’s Choice, and RHS Best in Show. The garden was created with the help of so many volunteers, I felt the support and love of my Dad in that garden.?

Our profession and the wider landscape family have taught me the difference between Empathy and Sympathy. Empathy is our ability to understand how someone feels while sympathy is our relief in not having the same problems. When we relate with empathy, we give the other person space to own their emotions and feelings. We reflect on what they are feeling and provide a safe space for all emotions, even negative ones.?

The Transcendence Garden reminds me of the latest album by my all-time favourite band Depeche Mode, it’s called ‘Memento mori’. I had no idea what it meant until I read the explanation. Memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die.” The notion of “remembering death” appears throughout European history, and other cultures have traditions that approach the same concept in unique ways. It is not only a reminder of death, but also to stop wasting time dreading the future, agonizing over the past, procrastinating in the pursuit of their goals, or holding grudges against others.?

The Transcendence Garden is a beautiful piece of design in its own right and made even more special when experienced whilst pondering your own personal story.?It deserves the highest recognition by our peers in the landscape profession. There is only one medal we would have awarded our Fellow Landscape Architects Gavin McWilliam CMLI and Andrew Wilson FLI.

I’m sure those that visit RHS Chelsea this week will be moved and inspired to talk just as I have done. Thank you to my friends for creating such a wonderfully thought-provoking garden. Hats off to Mark and the construction team at The Outdoor Room for building the garden and to Darwin Alternative Investment for their sponsorship. ?

By Adam White FLI PLLI - Past President and Fellow of the Landscape Institute Chartered Landscape Architect and Director at DAVIES WHITE LTD

Designed by Gavin McWilliam and Andrew Wilson

Built by The Outdoor Room

Sponsored by Darwin Alternative Investment Management Ltd