Designing a Dinner Party Show Garden

Laura Stevenson's Dinner Party Garden shows how you can create a colourful, vibrant entertaining space in a small garden. Find out which plants she used and get tips on how to recreate the look in your garden in this behind-the-scenes interview.

Many of us dream of having a designer garden but don't have the vision to make it happen. Hot on the heels of her success at the 2026 Scone Palace Showcase Garden Design Competition, I caught up with our very own garden design consultant and customer relationship manager, Laura Stevenson, to find out more about her Dinner Party Garden, which won the People's Choice Award. Laura also shares her tips on unconventional planting and how to incorporate entertaining spaces into big and small gardens.

Tell us about your garden! What's the concept behind it and what do you hope to achieve with the design?

The theme of my show garden is ‘celebration’. I wanted the garden to feel like a party; somewhere you can imagine yourself gathering with friends and family to unwind, listen to music and eat good food.

I like to think of gardens as an extension of the home, like another room. When designing a garden, I zone the space so everything flows well and serves a purpose. For a garden party, you want the space to allow for dining, dancing and socialising, so I incorporated a dining area, dance floor and stage into my design. Each area is connected so guests can easily circulate around the garden.

I created the planting plan so there will be bursts of colour appearing in the garden beds throughout the year. The planting plays a vital role in softening the geometric layout of the garden. Flowering perennials, grasses and low-growing shrubs flow out of the plant beds and onto the pathways to blur the straight edges.

Talk us through the process and practicalities of designing and creating a show garden

I spent a lot of time on the concept design over the Christmas break last year, before applying to the competition in January. After finding out my garden had been selected, I spent lots of time sourcing sponsors, refining the construction drawings and finalising the planting plan in early spring. 

The build began at the end of April and took about five weeks. The landscapers from Garradh Landscape & Design did a great job, bringing my vision to life. 

I designed the zinc dining table and spent six Saturdays constructing it in a workshop. I have some woodworking experience, but I’ve never built anything with metal before, so it was a great learning experience. I tried welding for the first time, which was really fun. I then had to arrange for the table to be delivered to the site so the landscapers could bolt it in place.

The three-metre long table has a void at one end, which holds a small herb garden planted directly into the table. This was quite a technical challenge, and the design evolved slightly as I created it, but I think it turned out well. The planter hangs beneath the tabletop, like a sink in a countertop. Small holes in the bottom of the steel planter allow for drainage. I planted Mediterranean herbs that diners can pick fresh and use to garnish drinks and meals as they're served.

The main difference between designing a show garden and a regular garden is that a show garden will be viewed from every angle. Most private gardens have some obstructed views or obstacles like sheds, fences or buildings, which help define the space and viewpoints. With this garden, visitors can walk all the way around it.

My show garden measures seven metres by seven metres. I started with a blank canvas, so the possibilities were limitless. Creating the layout was the part of the design process that took me the longest; once I'd decided how to use the space, everything else fell into place.

Most show gardens only have to look good for a week, but my garden will be judged seasonally over the course of a year. I had to consider how plants would grow into the space and not overcrowd the beds, as well as making sure there was interest throughout the year. In this sense, it felt more like designing a real life garden than a temporary display. 

Overall, creating the garden was an exciting opportunity to choose my own theme, experiment with style and materials, and showcase what you can achieve in a small space.

What plants have you used in your garden and why did you choose them?

From the beginning, I knew I wanted the plants to explode with colour in the summer months. To create harmony, I chose plants from a colour palette of pink, purple, peach and orange. For the foliage, I went with green, black and deep purple-reds. 

A few of the plant names pick up the theme of celebration and partying. This began unintentionally at first, but when I noticed the correlation, I definitely added to it. The cocktail of flowering plants includes:

• Geum 'Mai Tai'

• Echinacea 'Summer Cocktail'

• Lupinus polyphyllus 'Tequila Flame'

• Lupinus ‘Red Rum’

• Heuchera ‘Timeless Night’

• Astrantia major ‘Star of Beauty’

My aim with the planting was to create the feeling of a long, warm summer evening relaxing in a garden with friends and some cocktails.

I chose to dedicate one of the raised beds to Scottish grown heathers as a nod to the beauty of our native plants. They will provide the garden with winter interest while the perennials rest over the cold months. I planted an Acer palmatum 'Skeeter's Broom' with the heathers, as this also thrives in acidic soil. I can't wait to see how the colours in this bed will change over the next year.

It felt fitting to plant an Amelanchier 'Ballerina' beside the dancefloor. This tree will give a lovely display of white blossom in the spring, which I hope will fall like confetti onto the dance floor.

I added some evergreens and larger plants to the edges of the plot to add more structure to the beds, including:

• Sambucus nigra 'Black Beauty'

• Euphorbia × martini 'Ascot Rainbow'

• Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

• Pinus mugo 'Mughus'

The herb table planter holds two types of Salvia rosmarinus (rosemary), one with a vertical growth habit. In addition to their fragrance and culinary use, these herbs produce delicate lilac flowers over the summer months. I also planted Thymus serpyllum L. (Creeping purple thyme), another purple-flowering plant that will spill out from the planter and cascade down to the ground. 

What would you like people to take away from your garden that they can apply at home?

I hope it inspires people to think about their gardens in a new way. You can fit a lot of functions into a small space with good design, so take your time and experiment. If you need help, contact a local garden designer to take you through the process. Your garden deserves as much time and consideration as any other room in your house, maybe even more, as we share our gardens with wildlife.

That being said, it doesn't have to be a complicated process. If you're looking to make changes to your garden, start small in one area and over time keep adding and changing things as your garden and your needs evolve.

In terms of planting, I hope my garden inspires people to use plants to define space, create boundaries and add drama. Add plant beds close to your sitting areas so you can surround yourself with beautiful flowers! Quite often, people make the mistake of filling the end of their garden with plants, while leaving the front patio area empty. I’d encourage you to add beds or containers where you will be able to see and enjoy them.

An easy way to create a harmonious planting scheme in your garden is to choose a few plants you like that grow well together, and then repeat the combination across different areas.

What are your top tips for incorporating entertaining space into a garden?

Getting the proportions right is one of the most important factors in creating an outdoor entertaining space that feels comfortable and relaxing. Large patios can accommodate wide, chunky furniture, but in a small garden, choose slimmer, more delicate pieces that don't overwhelm the space.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to compromise on seating capacity. For example, four foldable bistro chairs take up far less space than a four-person garden sofa. Allowing plenty of space to pull chairs out from a table and move around furniture will help make the garden feel calmer and more spacious. 

Built-in furniture can help maximise space as it can be incorporated into other features like raised planters, walls or fences. Even if space isn’t an issue, combining features can add visual interest and character to a garden. When a bench is also a planter, it looks pretty cool.

Lastly, don’t be scared to add plants in unconventional places. Lift a few slabs to add plants to a patio area, create a flower bed in a gap between two surfaces, or add a herb garden to a table. Invite nature to join the party.

How to visit Laura's garden

Laura's award-winning Dinner Party Garden will be on display in the walled garden at Scone Palace until autumn 2027. The Palace has beautiful grounds, with a hedge maze, kitchen garden and pinetum to explore. You can also view the Stone of Destiny, where Scottish kings were crowned between the 9th and 13th centuries.

You can find a full list of the plants used in the garden on Laura's website.