We’ve become used to cool Scandinavian design invading our shores in recent years: first Ikea and H&M, then the interiors in moody dramas such as The Bridge, The Killing and Wallander. In May, it will be Ulf Nordfjell’s turn to steer his metaphorical longboat up the Thames, when Sweden’s best-known landscape architect lands his third garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Expectations are high: Nordfjell won a gold medal for his first appearance in 2007, for A Tribute to Carl Linnaeus, the 18th-century father of plant nomenclature. In 2009, he won Best in Show for a traditional cottage garden inspired by Hidcote Manor, in Gloucestershire, but tinged with Swedish modernism. His achievement in beating the British at their own game is all the greater