Disney’s The Lion King presented a community garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival to commemorate 25 years of the iconic, award-winning West End musical.
Designed by leading garden designer Juliet Sargeant, the garden received three awards at the festival; Best Show Garden, the RHS Environmental Innovation Award and a Silver Gilt Medal*.
Disney’s The Lion King 25th Anniversary Community Garden is open at the garden festival until 7 July, featuring rousing live performances and interactive activities throughout the week, providing a communal space for the public to sit and reflect on their own journey through the ‘Circle of Life’.
Filled with colourful drought-tolerant flowers, the triple-award-winning garden reflects the bright hues of Julie Taymor’s theatrical design. Made from recycled, crushed red brick the soil is planted with swathes of resilient grasses to reflect the Pridelands with antelope from the production appearing to leap through the grass. It is surrounded by a wildlife-friendly dead hedge, which creates a traditional Boma providing a communal meeting place for visitors to enjoy. The ‘Circle of Life’ echoes throughout the garden, creating balance and harmony, whilst a large fabric ‘sunrise’ provides a colourful and theatrical boundary focal point.
Climate resilient plants and trees such as Bulbinella frutescens ‘Sunset Orange, ‘Zanthoxyllum simulans (Szechuan pepper), Kniphofia varieties, Zelkova serrata, Stipa pseudo-ichu, and Gleditsia Skyline (Honey Locust) offer ideas for savannah style planting that’s practical and drought-tolerant with the aim of encouraging people to experiment with with new planting styles as well as with plants.
Since performances began at the Lyceum Theatre in 1999 more than 19 million people have experienced the breath-taking musical in London. Every performance takes 150 people, with 50 on stage and 100 backstage along with 232 puppets and 350 different costumes. To mark its 25th year in the heart of London’s West End, the show is proud to celebrate its quarter century at this prestigious event in the capital’s annual calendar.
25th anniversary garden designer, Juliet Sargeant:
“Simply exhibiting at a RHS show is a privilege, but to have been awarded Best Show Garden is amazing, especially given the calibre of gardens this year. The Environmental Innovation award is new to the RHS and so we really weren’t expecting to win. It’s lovely to have confirmed our message of environmental responsibility that runs through the garden and the ethos of the theatre show.”
More information can be found here.
