Brecon Beacons dark skies inspires Chelsea show garden
A garden inspired by Brecon Beacons National Park dark sky status has won a silver gilt medal at this year's Chelsea Flower Show.
A star-shaped cobblestone path is one of the features of the garden set up by Harry and David Rich from Brecon.
The brothers were awarded a gold medal for their Artisan garden at last year's event.
Brecon Beacons National Park is one of only five International Dark Sky Reserves in the world.
Harry, 26 and David, 23, who is the youngest ever designer of a Chelsea Show Garden, created a garden with a design of steel, glass, natural stone, timber and naturalistic planting.
Harry Rich, said The Vital Earth: Night Sky Garden at the show's main avenue was inspired by the dark skies of the national park, where he and his brother were raised.
"Of course most gardens are designed with light in mind and that is no different for this garden," he said.
"In this garden the darkness is equally as important as the light.
"We have been very much inspired by the dark skies of Brecon Beacons National Park and we hope to capture the imagination of those who visit the garden.
"It's a wonderful platform to raise awareness about light pollution but it's also based on a sensory garden that we recently designed for autistic children.
"It offers a naturalistic, calm environment where children can learn about both the landscape around them and the wonders of the night sky
The garden includes a star-shaped cobblestone path cuts through a series of curving stone walls which trace the shape of constellations.
Two steel edged reflective pools suggest black holes and boulders are used to mirror fallen meteors and brass discs.
These have been cut into the powder coated steel boundary wall and glow like constellations in a night sky.
Naturalistic planting, dominated by white, with swirling tones of blues and oranges echo the path of the Milky Way and a grassy bowl and the roof of an oak and glass rooftop studio Brecon provide different spots for star gazing.
Vital Earth: The Night Sky Garden can be seen at the Chelsea Flower Show from 20 to 24 May.
The garden will be relocated to Beechwood College in Cardiff after the show ends.