Acer campestre ‘Nanum’
Dwarf field maple
The Killik & Co ‘A Seed in Time’ Garden
About this garden
This is Baz Grainger’s third consecutive Chelsea show garden with Killik & Co — and arguably his most ambitious. Following a Gold medal in 2025 for ‘Save for a Rainy Day’, Grainger turns his attention to Britain’s disappearing wetland craft traditions and the urgent challenge of biodiversity loss. The UK ranks among the world’s most nature-depleted countries, with only around 50% of its biodiversity remaining against a global average of 75%. This garden is a direct, beautiful response to that statistic.
At the heart of the garden is a central wetland, surrounded by structures built with traditional straw bale and reed construction techniques — a genuinely disappearing craft from Britain’s natural wetland heritage. Crucially, the straw and reeds used in these structures are grown within the garden itself and harvested for ongoing maintenance, creating a genuinely circular system. The structure also captures and channels rainwater into a small flood zone, forming a living wetland habitat surrounded by fruiting trees, self-seeding plants and grasses — making more from less, in every sense.
With a background of over 20 years in the fashion industry before retraining as a landscape designer in 2017, Grainger brings a distinctive eye to the naturalistic planting palette of pale purples, creams, oranges and deep reds — warm, earthy and restorative. The garden aligns with Killik & Co’s investment philosophy of long-term thinking and multi-generational stewardship.
Baz Grainger retrained as a landscape designer in 2017 after 20+ years in fashion, won Silver and Best Global Impact Garden at RHS Hampton Court 2021, and Gold at Chelsea 2025.
Gallery
Plant List95
Trees, Hedging & Shrubs
Betula pendula ‘Globe’
Silver birch 'Globe'
Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’
Red osier dogwood 'Cardinal'
Corylus cornuta
Beaked hazelnut
Corylus maxima ‘Purpurea’
Purple-leaved filbert
Crataegus monogyna
Common hawthorn
Hamamelis ‘Amethyst’
Witch hazel 'Amethyst'
Juglans regia
Common walnut
Malus ‘Van Eseltine’
Crab apple 'Van Eseltine'
Mespilus germanica var. apyrena
Seedless medlar
Morus alba, fruitless
Fruitless white mulberry
Philadelphus ‘Lemoinei’
Mock orange 'Lemoinei'
Prunus spinosa
Blackthorn
Pyrus communis ‘Comte de Paris’
Pear 'Comte de Paris'
Rosa ‘Fields of Fromelles’
Rose 'Fields of Fromelles'
Rosa ‘Francis E. Lester’
Rose 'Francis E. Lester'
Rosa ‘Paul’s Himalayan Musk’
Rose 'Paul's Himalayan Musk'
Rosa canina
Dog rose
Rosa pimpinellifolia ‘Andrewsii’
Burnet rose 'Andrewsii'
Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’
Snowball
Grasses
Agrostis capillaris
Brown top
Ammophila arenaria
Marram
Andropogon gerardii ‘Red October’
Big blue stem 'Red October'
Briza minor
Lesser quaking grass
Calamagrostis brachytricha
Korean feather reed grass
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’
Feather reed grass 'Karl Foerster'
Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Overdam’
Feather reed grass 'Overdam'
Deschampsia cespitosa ‘Goldtau’
Tufted hair grass 'Golden Dew'
Deschampsia flexuosa ‘Tatra Gold’
Wavy hair grass 'Tatra Gold'
Hordeum jubatum
Foxtail barley
Imperata cylindrica ‘Rubra’
Cogon grass 'Rubra'
Melica altissima ‘Atropurpurea’
Dark purple Siberian melic
Melica uniflora f. albida
White-flowered wood melic
Molinia caerulea subsp. caerulea ‘Poul Petersen’
Purple moor grass 'Poul Petersen'
Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea ‘Skyracer’
Purple moor grass 'Skyracer'
Molinia caerulea subsp. caerulea ‘Overdam’
Purple moor grass 'Overdam'
Panicum amarum ‘Sea Mist’
Bitter switch grass 'Sea Mist'
Poa labillardierei
New Zealand blue grass
Grassland Flowering Perennials
Achillea ‘Fanal’
Yarrow 'Fanal'
Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’
Giant hyssop 'Blue Fortune'
Angelica archangelica
Angelica
Betonica officinalis
Bishop's wort
Bunium bulbocastanum
Great pignut
Camassia leichtlinii ‘Pink Star’
Californian white quamash 'Pink Star'
Camassia leichtlinii subsp. suksdorfii (Caerulea Group) ‘Maybelle’
Camass 'Maybelle'
Camassia quamash
Common camassia
Campanula persicifolia ‘Telham Beauty’
Peach-leaved bellflower 'Telham Beauty'
Cardamine pratensis ‘Flore Pleno’ white-flowered
Double white cuckoo flower
Cenolophium denudatum
Baltic parsley
Centaurea jacea
Brown knapweed
Centranthus ruber ‘Albus’
Red valerian 'Albus'
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Smoky’
Fennel 'Smoky'
Geum rivale
Water avens
Iris sibirica ‘Blue King’
Siberian iris 'Blue King'
Iris sibirica ‘Papillon’
Siberian iris 'Papillon'
Liatris spicata
Button snakewort
Libertia chilensis
New Zealand satin flower
Marrubium incanum
Silver horehound
Potentilla recta ‘Warrenii’
Sulphur cinquefoil 'Warrenii'
Sanguisorba ‘Prim and Proper’
Burnet 'Prim and Proper'
Sanguisorba tenuifolia var. alba
White Japanese burnet
Scabiosa incisa ‘Kudo White’
Scabious 'Kudo White'
Scutellaria nana
Dwarf skullcap
Thalictrum ‘Elin’
Rue 'Elin'
Valeriana officinalis
Common valerian
Zizia aurea
Golden alexanders
Shade Loving Plants
Alliaria petiolata
Garlic mustard
Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’
Purple cow parsley
Asplenium scolopendrium ‘Angustatum’
Hart's tongue fern 'Angustatum'
Blechnum tabulare
Table Mountain blechnum
Boehmeria platanifolia
Sycamore-leaf false nettle
Digitalis purpurea ‘Sutton’s Apricot’
Foxglove 'Sutton's Apricot'
Digitalis purpurea f. albiflora
White-flowered foxglove
Dryopteris filix-mas
Male fern
Epimedium pubigerum
Barrenwort
Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’
Barrenwort 'Sulphureum'
Kirengeshoma palmata Koreana Group
Korean yellow wax-bells
Lamium maculatum ‘Beacon Silver’
Deadnettle 'Beacon Silver'
Matteuccia struthiopteris
Ostrich fern
Polystichum polyblepharum
Japanese lace fern
Aquatics
Aponogeton distachyos
Water hawthorn
Carex acuta ‘Variegata’
Slender-tufted sedge 'Variegata'
Carex acutiformis
Swamp sedge
Equisetum telmateia
Giant horsetail
Eriophorum chamissonis
Chamisso's cotton grass
Glyceria maxima
Reed sweet grass
Hydrocotyle novae-zeelandiae
New Zealand pennywort
Iris ensata
Japanese water iris
Isolepis cernua
Slender club-rush
Myosotis scorpioides variegated
Variegated water forget-me-not
Nasturtium officinale
Watercress
Phragmites australis subsp. australis ‘Variegatus’
Variegated reed
Phyla nodiflora
Creeping vervain
Potentilla argentea
Silvery cinquefoil
Typha angustifolia
Lesser bulrush
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