A garden dedicated to children and young people in Rotherham stole the show at the first RHS Flower Show at Wentworth Woodhouse on 16th to 20th July. The RHS Teenage Dirt Park feature garden drew in thousands of visitors with its youthful design, live DJ and daring BMX riders. It was the first time a BMX track and DJ booth have ever featured at an RHS flower show. Designed with Rotherham’s young people in mind and in celebration of the borough’s landmark year as the world’s first Children’s Capital of Culture, this bold community garden centred around an innovative dirt track with rollers, jumps, and berm turns with communal hangout areas for young people to “connect, create and let loose”. The garden was wrapped in meadow planting and blended with contrasting colourful plants based on the young people of Rotherham’s favourite colours, topped off with graffiti benches and pots by a local artist. Grace Bower, an ambassador for Rotherham’s Children’s Capital of Culture programme this year, said: “This garden celebrated young people and green spaces because we’re passionate about being outside in nature but it doesn’t have to be boring. We’re not in Chelsea anymore, we’re in Rotherham! So we’re going to have our space and make it really fun and amazing.” The project was a collaboration between RHS, Rotherham BMX and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council for Children’s Capital of Culture festival year in 2025. The designer was Rachel Platt. The garden will be rehomed at Bramley Grange School.
