Shared Breath

The Project

Designed by Charlotte Sanderson for Dorothy House Hospice, Shared Breath was an immersive, richly planted show garden created for RHS Badminton, with sustainability, biodiversity and our connection with the natural world at its heart. M T S Gardens was entrusted with organising and delivering the garden, working alongside Charlotte, Dorothy House and a dedicated team of volunteers to transform the design into a finished show garden. Abundant perennial planting, a specimen Parrotia persica, recycled and locally sourced materials, permeable surfaces and habitat-rich details came together to create a garden that was both beautiful and ecologically considered. We were incredibly proud to see Shared Breath awarded an RHS Gold Medal — recognition of a very special collaborative project and the care, skill and horticultural detail that went into its creation.

Project information

Location: Gloucestershire

Project Type: Show Garden

Services: Soft Landscaping | Landscape Construction

Key Elements: Semi-Mature Tree Planting | Crushed Cockle Shell Pathway | Herbaceous Planting

Designer: Charlotte Sanderson Design

Completion Date: July 2026

Photography: M T S Gardens | Charlotte Sanderson

The Story

Shared Breath was designed by Charlotte Sanderson for Dorothy House Hospice as an immersive garden in which planting, people and wildlife could coexist — a space offering somewhere to pause, breathe and reconnect with nature.

Sustainability and biodiversity informed the design from the outset. Rather than being additions to the finished garden, these principles influenced the planting palette, material choices and the way water and wildlife were considered throughout the space.

M T S Gardens was appointed to organise and install the garden for RHS Badminton, working closely with Charlotte, Dorothy House and a dedicated team of volunteers to bring the design to life within the demanding timescales of an RHS show.

A Garden Alive with Planting

Planting was at the heart of Shared Breath.

An abundant palette of colourful perennials created height, movement and texture throughout the garden while providing valuable nectar and habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.

Geranium ‘Dreamland’ and Echinacea purpurea were woven amongst a rich ground layer of Alchemilla mollis, Pittosporum tobira ‘Nanum’, open-flowered roses, ferns and shrubs. Together, the planting created a garden that felt generous and established while protecting the soil and creating habitats at different levels.

Above them, the canopy of a Parrotia persica provided shelter and a sense of enclosure. A simple chair beneath the tree created a quiet place to sit — reinforcing the garden's central idea of finding comfort and connection through the natural world.

Materials with a Purpose

The same principles extended into the materials used throughout the garden.

Where possible, materials were locally sourced, recycled or selected to reduce their environmental impact.

A permeable pathway made from recycled shells wound gently through the planting. As well as creating a tactile journey through the garden, the surface allowed rainwater to return naturally to the ground while providing additional habitat for small invertebrates.

Nearby, a shallow water bowl formed from low-carbon cement provided a simple source of water for wildlife.

Each element was considered not only for how it looked, but for the role it could play within the wider ecology of the garden.

Bringing the Garden to Life

Show gardens present a very different challenge from the residential landscapes we usually create.

A garden that would ordinarily be constructed, planted and allowed to establish over months or years must be brought together within an exceptionally concentrated period, while still creating the impression of a coherent and established landscape.

Our role extended beyond the physical installation. It required careful organisation and coordination of plants, materials, logistics and people, alongside close collaboration between the designer, Dorothy House, our team and the volunteers involved in the project.

As the final plants were positioned and the garden came together, the individual components began to disappear into the whole — transforming a temporary show site into a garden that felt as though it belonged.

RHS Gold

We were immensely proud when Shared Breath was awarded an RHS Gold Medal.

The award recognised the quality of the completed garden and represented an extraordinary achievement for everyone involved.

For M T S Gardens, it was also an opportunity to demonstrate the horticultural knowledge, attention to detail and quality of installation that underpin our work — brought together in a garden with a particularly meaningful purpose.

But the Gold Medal wasn't the end of the story.

A Life Beyond the Show

Once RHS Badminton had finished, Shared Breath was carefully dismantled by our team, transported to Dorothy House Hospice and reconstructed as a permanent garden.

Plants and materials that had been assembled temporarily for the show were given a new and far more meaningful home, where the garden could begin the process that no show garden has time to experience — establishing, maturing and changing with the seasons.

Most importantly, it became a space for the people for whom the garden had ultimately been created.

Patients, families and visitors to Dorothy House can now spend time amongst the planting, sit beneath the trees and experience a garden conceived around the simple ideas of pausing, breathing and finding comfort through a connection with nature.

In doing so, the relocation brought Charlotte's original design intent full circle.

The RHS Gold Medal was an extraordinary recognition of Shared Breath as a show garden, but its lasting legacy is the garden that remains at Dorothy House — continuing to grow, evolve and provide a place of respite, reflection and connection for the people who spend time there.

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