The Queen attends Chelsea Flower Show in a buggy
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There are also gardens, installations and new flowers to commemorate the Queen and the Queen’s Jubilee. Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II has attended the Show for the last 50-plus years. The key themes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year are sustainability, health and wellbeing, community and our connection to the soil and our wonderful planet, as well as an emphasis on creating biodiversity and habitats for wildlife, in particular pollinators.
I have the great pleasure of presenting from the Show for both BBC Morning Live and BBC Studios/Gardeners’ World and the RHS Shows. There is a real buzz in the air, not just from the tens of thousands of bees that seem to flock to the Show every year to feast on the array of flowers on display, but also from the exhibitors, visitors, staff, contractors, designers and the press.
I visited the week before the show to look around during build week and it always amazes me how the incredibly talented individuals, from plantsmen and -women, to garden designers, contractors, both soft and hard landscaping turn a very large area of lawn into the stunning gardens that are admired across the world.
I often overhear visitors saying things like, “well, you could never do that in a real garden”, or “there are so many plants crammed in, they’ll have no space to grow”. But, it must be remembered that this is a show and it needs to wow the TV audience, the visitors and our fellow gardeners across the world and be a spectacle.
Yes, you might not be able to recreate the entire garden in your outdoor space, but you should go to flower shows that take place all across the UK to get ideas.
Look at a section of the gardens, note the plants that create a specific atmosphere or feeling, look at how materials are being used for the hard-landscaping, get ideas for formal, naturalistic or cottage gardens and start small.
There are a few gardens, out of the 39 total, that really stood out for me this year.
The first thing I noticed was how the large triangle near the main Bull Ring entrance, normally put aside for a large Show Garden is filled with balcony and container gardens.
In previous years these gardens were positioned throughout the grounds, but this year they are in pride of place.
It really shows what can be done in small spaces, with excellence of design, innovative solutions and beautiful plants.
People are really interested in these gardens this year and I personally love the The Still Garden designed by Jane Porter, inspired by the Scottish landscape with plants that thrive across the Highlands.
I love the use of the whiskey casks repurposed to become sculptural planters, while the slate dry-stone wall feature creates a dramatic backdrop for the bold foliage, gorgeous textures, soft mounds and spray-like forms, using plants such as Gunnera manicata, Digitalis parviflora and Cirsium rivulare ‘Atropurpureum’.
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For me, the Show Garden that really stands out is the Medite Smartply ‘Building the Future’ garden designed by muti-award-winning garden designer Sarah Eberle.
Every year, Sarah pulls something new out of the horticultural hat. This edge of woodland Garden has an incredible, stunning, feature inspired by natural vertical rock strata, which is all constructed by the incredible contractors Landform, using Medite Smartply, a carbon-negative high-performance wood panel product.
This is innovative, beautiful, blends seamlessly into the planting surrounding it, the rock pools and waterfalls. This is a Garden with the Wow! factor. Sarah’s team won ‘Best Construction Award (Show Garden) and deservedly so.
On a smaller scale, three Sanctuary Gardens, all completely different, draw me in to the overall design, the quality of construction and materials and the high-class plants.
The first, in no order is Place2Be Securing Tomorrow Garden designed by Jamie Butterworth. The entire garden is surrounded by planting with a safe and calm centre – a sanctuary for children who need to talk about what’s on their mind with a mental health practitioner.
The key plants are Cornus kousa var. chinensis, Corylus avellana and Uvularia grandiflora. The arching theme of connection to nature is truly depicted in this beautiful garden.
The next Sanctuary Garden is simply entitled Connected designed by Tania Suonio, originally from Finland.
This is a beautiful woodland garden with a sculptural centrepiece that resembles a hollow giant oak stump. This is a true sanctuary and a garden that is fully accessible.
The shape of an oak tree is cut into the stump, which is repeated on the rear wall, but this time as a bubbling water feature behind glass. This is an immersive Garden, with layered woodland planting that promotes natural gardening, native species and biodiversity. Key plants in this Garden include Fagus sylvatica, Sambucus nigra and Dactylis glomerata.
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The last Sanctuary Garden that catches my eye is A Garden Sanctuary by Hamptons, designed by Tony Woods and excellently crafted by Garden Club London.
A striking, angular building finished with charred Larch sits in a naturalistic setting with a running brook, boulders and steppingstones. This is a true place for escapism. A space for mindfulness and relaxation.
It also shows how an outdoor room and a garden can become a natural extension to the home.
This is a garden that I would love to pick up and drop into my outdoor space. When it comes to plants, there is one of my favourites Cenolophium denudatum, Thalictrum delavyi ‘Splendide White’ and Astrantia major ‘Shaggy’.
Finally, in the new category All About Plants, I have to mention the Core Arts Front Garden Revolution designed by Andy Smith-Williams.
I am Patron of Core Landscapes, part of Core Arts, and this is the first time both designer and charity have been at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and they have won Gold.
I am incredibly proud of their achievement, but more importantly for getting the strong message across to millions of people.
Gardens connect us to our communities and to nature, break down barriers to facilitate recovery, social inclusion and positive mental health.
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