Since I was young I have attended the Chelsea Flower show as often as I can. I remember my excitement and a pivotal moment in my life when my Grandmother got permission to take me out of school for the day to travel to London and see my first flower show. Ever since then I have been fascinated by using plants and the landscape as an art form.
It is a great place to get inspiration for garden design. This year I found new landscaping materials, new plants and some fabulous ideas I can't wait to use in a design.
Here are some of my favourite gardens and a few ideas I picked up this year:
Best for colour - Positively Stoke-on-Trent
This was up there with the Help for Heroes garden as my two favourite gardens. I thought the colours in the planting were absolutely stunning and so well put together. Starting with cool whites at one end and as you walk down the garden the shades start to turn to dusky pinks and culminate in an rich, velvety mass of sumptuous reds and deep colours at the far end. The only issue being that one could never have all of these plants together in a real garden as they would not normally flower at the same time or grow in the same conditions. I suppose this is the beauty and the downfall of Chelsea, it is pure magic.
Take a look at the decking in this garden too; it shows you that decking doesn't always have to be laid in a boring square.
Best for elegance - The Telegraph Garden
Normally I would award this title to the Laurent-Perrier gardens but this year it was the Telegraph garden that excited me more.
Again there is some Chelsea magic in this garden, the box balls in the lawn are going to be a nightmare to cut around but they do look lovely. Simple, fluffy planting punctuated with the clipped balls and splashed with blue and lime green, an elegant paving choice and a cool shaded area to enjoy a G&T or glass of champagne completes this garden as one of the most useable as well as beautiful.
Most on-trend - Fabric
To me this garden was trying a little to hard, antlers and checked wall paper seem to have been in every interiors magazine this year and in-fact in my own house but does it work as an exterior space?
Most conceptual and artistic - Garden Museum
I love conceptual spaces and gardens that tell a story. It was a modern interpretation of a Wardian case that was used in the 19th century by plant hunters. As much as I love a story and concept I still want the finished product to be beautiful too. Is this beautiful to you....beauty is in the eye of the beholder?
Most interesting - Help for Heroes
I would say this garden just makes it as my favourite garden of the show and I must be doing something right as it was also the people's choice, winning the RHS Peoples's Choice Award.
The grey stone columns are set of beautifully by soft fluffy grasses and blue and purple planting. The pants were mostly plants that would work in a normal garden and the simple layout and central avenue all worked to create a pleasing space.
Some other highlights from the show:
Dark colours as a backdrop -
Alan Titchmarsh's look back over his 50 year career-
