This is a FREE event with the option to make a donation if you wish to.  

Taking a garden to Chelsea Flower Show is no mean feat. It was a journey of blood, sweat and tears for Dan Bristow to bring the most biodiverse garden to the world-renowned show in 2024. He worked with local plant nurseries, mushroom growers, quarrymen and crafts people for his design, in support of climate change charity, Size of Wales. This story has sustainability at its core and Dan will be joined by Vickie Wood, Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications for Plantlife.

This talk is being led by:

Dan Bristow – Dan is a Landscape Designer and creative Gardener who lives by a river at the edge of the rugged and beautiful Eryri/Snowdonia National Park. His design practice, Studio Bristow, won a gold medal and Best All About Plants garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 2024, for their Size of Wales Garden.  

He is inspired by travelling and plant-hunting in the wild, and how to transpose these experiences into his landscapes. He trained in horticulture at Capel Manor College, after graduating with a BA in Graphic Design from University of the Arts London. He has run his own design practice since 2008.

Dan’s studio approach works from the principle that outdoor spaces have only opportunities, not limitations. With a plantsman's knowledge for using often rare species to suit specific locations, an architect's understanding of space and light and an artist's intuitiveness and layers of meaning, Studio Bristow’s projects - which are found throughout the UK - are bound together with a long-term focused approach.

 Vickie Wood - Vickie leads on the charity’s fundraising strategies, communications, and marketing activities.  She has a 25-year background in fundraising and communications, working mainly in international development including for ActionAid, Ripple Effect (formally Send a Cow), and Motivation International alongside a  stint at the environmental charity, Sustrans. 

With a BSc degree in Geography and an  MSc in Environmental Development, Vickie joined Plantlife in 2021 to use her passion for creative storytelling to help engage everyone with plants, and nature to make a difference to the biodiversity, climate, and social challenges we face. 

 Outside of work, Vickie volunteers for a gardening–based social enterprise supporting people with mental health challenges and loves nothing more than a cold-water swim.

At the end of the talk there will be an opportunity to ask questions. 

We really hope you can join us for this talk. 

The talk will be recorded and a link to the recording will be sent to all those who register to attend the event.  

This event is free of charge, but there is an option to make a donation if you wish to.

Many thanks

Plantlife Membership Team.