A garden for Horatio

The tale of Horatio Chapple, 17, killed by a polar bear on a glacier near the Arctic Circle, was one of last year's most tragic stories.

On an expedition of young adventurers in August, Horatio was savaged by the bear as his friends watched helplessly and the expedition leaders attempted to shoot it. They did so successfully, but only after Horatio was beyond help.

As news of the tragedy broke, Horatio's parents were reported to be too upset to speak. But now they are expressing their grief — and pride — in their son in a very public way.

With the help of Cleve West, the gardener who has won Best in Show at the Chelsea Flower Show for two years in a row, a garden to remember Horatio is being built at the Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury where the aspiring medic volunteered in his school holidays.

West told the Standard it was a worthy tribute to Horatio, and that visitors will recognise elements of his award-winning show gardens in its design.

"We wanted it to be a garden, not necessarily an all-singing, all-dancing show garden, but something that would attract wildlife, have a good variety of flowers and appeal to lots of people," he said.

"There is quite a lot of hard landscaping because of the wide paths we needed for wheelchairs and beds, so I had to make sure there are a few more private, intimate areas.

"People who saw my Chelsea Flower Show gardens will recognise the Cotswold walling stone in this one. And we've shaped the walls in the shapes of spines, which is the garden's theme."

West said planting will begin this week, and that it was "a very personal project" because a close friend suffered a serious neck injury.

"I'm sure that Horatio would be chuffed to see all of this going on in his name, because it was he and his dad who had the idea of a garden at the clinic," said West.

Horatio's father David — a surgeon at the centre — says the garden helped his family "focus on the positives".

"This has been a focus for myself, my wife, Horatio's brothers — it's allowed so many friends, family, supporters to focus on hopefully a legacy that will be there to honour his life," he said. "And I hope he would feel honoured and proud of the support that has been shown since he died."

This week the annual Bloomsbury Art Fair will raise money for Horatio's Garden and the Spinal Treatment Centre. Standard readers can take advantage of a two-for-one ticket offer for the event at bloomsbury-art-fair.com/advanced-tickets