Hello and welcome to The Royal Horticultural Society's
Chelsea Flower Show 2023, an event supported by
The Newt in Somerset.
The most prestigious and eagerly-anticipated
gardening event in the world.
We guarantee you won't miss a moment as we're here with a week
of programmes across the BBC, and I must say it's
wonderful to be back!
It certainly is. There is quite a tension around the showground. The
judges are out there looking at the show gardens and the finishing
touches are being put to the exhibits in The Great Pavilion. I
can feel that buzz building as we speak. I am looking forward to this
week.
It looks set to be a bumper year.
Just take a look at this.
12 spectacular show gardens with magnificent structures and
impressive landscapes. Seven smaller gardens, sanctuaries, where you can
feel restored and connected to nature. Innovative ideas for the
smallest of places. And at the centre of it all, The Great Pavilion
packed full of beautiful flowers, foliage and forestry.
Tonight we're giving you an exclusive first look,
and there's so much to see I really don't know where to start.
The Chelsea gang are back, and over the next hour they'll
be covering every inch of the showground.
Across the gardens and throughout the Great Pavilion, they'll be
looking at the latest designs and gardening trends to inspire
you and kick-start your summer.
And what better place to start than this -
Chris Beardshaw's 13th Chelsea garden.
Unlucky for some but obviously not for him as it's simply beautiful.
It is stunning. This is the Myeloma UK Garden. Myeloma is blood cancer
and this is created for people with blood cancer and it is a space to
reflect and for hope and optimism. It really feels like that. It you
in. It has got a real woodland feel to it. This is the first of two
temples on this garden and when you stand here and you suddenly get a
glimpse of this, the first water feature, which is quite hidden. And
it is completely silent, it is all about reflection. We can see his
signature hard planting. Plenty of volume, the trees, shrubs, layering,
lots of green and texture and the colour comes in blocks of colour.
There are wonderful lilies. Lovely lilies and irises. This bloke is
punctuating, but it is very calming and tranquil. It does emotionally
capture you. I like the detail because it makes you stop and think.
The grass is like a maze that leads the eye out to the water feature and
this as well, it is all about the garden is art. Every single plant,
flower, leaf represented there. He has taken one of each. The journey
continues and more planting and it gets more shade and lush. I like
this. You come into contact with the plants. It is not like they are over
there and we are over here, you are really interacting and totally
immersed in this garden. This is a wider space and there is much more
light here. And then you have got this, and water feature, but a
wonderful sound. And this is slightly raised. Sound is important
with the water feature, getting that sound just right and I think Chris
has got it just right. If you look down the long view, again you see
the ferns are popping up and you get a view right down the middle of the
garden and the planting and it is very cleverly designed, but it feels
almost effortless. What I find incredible is the designers have
done this and created this in less than three weeks. I was here three
weeks ago and it was just turf and mud. I know you love to put on your
high viz and your booze and any opportunity you are out there in the
build. I come to the build every single year and it is a real
privilege to be able to see it. The first garden I was able to see this
year was The Balance Garden and I was there when they first broke
ground.
Steve and John, hello. Our Chelsea first timers. This is day two.
Turmoil inside? Maybe not turmoil, but we are handling it. We have a
prep, so we should be ready. Is this why you are chilled? Who is the
garden for? It is inspired by space in Tottenham which is a very
beautiful, wild and messy space. But around it, it is very industrial and
dusty and a lot of people use this space, but they are not getting the
nature connection that they want. What is it going to be? We have got
layered canopies and we have got tall trees that represent the
backdrop of the existing park and it flows through to food forestry and
it is creating a tiered level of different edible opportunities. And
this is the centrepiece? This is the mushroom den, a shipping container
and it is converted. And it really is a mushroom then? It is a fully
operational, urban farm. But it has this element of calm in the heart of
the garden immersed in all the trees, so you get that sense of
nature connection and being enveloped by the space. It is
amazing what you have to achieve in less than three weeks. It is going
to be quite a magical space.
You have definitely been battling with the elements. It is starting to
take shape with some of the key features. You are pretty well ahead
compared to the other gardens. We have cracked on with the hard
landscaping and these are the bones of the garden. The precision has to
be on the money because we have got to wild this place up for the visual
permanence and it has to be right. I love the structure in the middle. I
couldn't quite imagine what that was going to look like, but that is for
the mushrooms? We have repurposed the container and that is the heart
of the garden. We have details on there, and amongst all the wildness
it cuts through brilliantly. We put them in with our own fair hands. We
threw down the boulders and put in the concrete mountains and we have
replaced those, each one. You two are far too chilled. You are the
first timers and you are supposed to be really stressed. This feels good.
In fact we are having the time of our lives. I guess there are two of
us as well and maybe when one of us is freaking out the other one isn't.
I am not freaking out. Fingers crossed, but definitely next week.
This is rather different, how are you both? Good to see you. This is
amazing. This will poke up through and you can walk along and it will
bring up the aroma and you go over here to enjoy the scent and the
smell. The wet area is still to be planted up? Now we have got even
more opportunities with the water, so we have got aquatic evidence in
there. You will be able to see through it and with the purple light
coming through from the mushroom den in the reflection, that is a little
detail we are hoping to pick up. Here we have got tiered layering of
the food forest. You have got the higher canopy level and I'm here we
have got some lovely fruit bushes, even a few of the potatoes at the
front so they can harvest some potatoes, come through and change
that. There are some strawberries down there. Yes.
down there. Yes. This grows in open aspect and it is a beautiful wild
flower. But these are lovely salad leaves. You can just pick and take
again and again. Very nice. You are very relaxed from the outset. Are
you still relax? You have times when you are counting down the days and
you think there is a lot to do and then you have a day and everything
happens and you feel good again. We have got so many ideas of how many
details we want to get to really showcase the beautiful Urban ecology
and planting possibilities. You are doing a brilliant job. Well done, I
will leave you to it. Nice one.
And this is it!
The Balance Garden.
And joining me to take a look around is Toby Buckland.
The one thing I have not seen yet is in here. This is the mushroom den.
Look at that. Look at those mushrooms. Aren't they spectacular?
I am always drawn to a garden with a surprise. This is a look of it came
from outer space about it. It is beautiful, isn't it? It is a cherry
on the cake. In community spaces to have a lot of whimsy. For this it
feels fit for purpose. It is all about urban spaces and the reclaimed
concrete and something like that, the shipping container disused,
turning it into a space that people cannot just appreciate, but also
used. There are all the edibles down here. You have got strawberries.
Strawberries and potatoes. I like the idea they use materials that
will have a previous life and have a creative life in front of them. Is
always really rough. People look at that and think it is in a garden.
But growing weeds is the hardest thing you can do. They are not
designed to grow in pots and it is hard to grow them somewhere else and
bring them into a show garden. This is a real achievement. Every time I
have come into this garden I have wanted to sit down. There are big
lumps of concrete and there is a log over there, but that is what this is
about, bringing the community together. It is all about mental
health. While spaces, urban places and something that is good for
people's mental health. Yes, and it has got a good level of storytelling
in it. What it is saying, is no matter how landlocked and concrete
looked places, put cracks in the concrete and break it up and there
are plans that you can grow. They are not just easy on the eye, they
are food as well. It is about people being able to connect with nature.
Even if you live in a big city, nature comes up through the cracks
in the concrete and does a lot of benefit. It might not be a rose
garden in the traditional sense of the word, but it really is. It is a
really garden of hope. It will be taken to Tottenham in north London
for everyone to enjoy. I don't know what they were made of the
mushrooms, but they are wonderful. Good luck to the boys.
Stepping away from Main Avenue and you'll find
the mighty Great Pavilion.
And each May when you step through the doors and walk
into a sea of flowers you feel a sense of calm and reassurance -
as if you've been transported to another world.
And someone who knows her way around better than anyone is Carol Klein.
Chelsea marks the start of the summer and The Great Pavilion is
packed to the rafters with all our favourite plants. It is like a
floral sweet shop. It is time to celebrate those classic flowers that
usher in the new season.
usher in the new season. What could be more classic than a rose? Roses
have been grown by every civilisation, but they have never
been more popular than they are today. But our ways of growing them
have changed. For a start, if you have got small gardens we can find
container roses which are thrilling and flower for a long period. But
the modern way to grow roses, the way we are growing them now, is to
mix them with herbaceous perennials and grasses. That emulate the way
that roses grow in nature. Everything in that mixture is happy,
but the plant that shines out was always going to be the rose.
always going to be the rose. Aren't there magnificent? Nothing beats the
delphinium in bloom, with the height and stature.
and stature. Its forebears came from the Swiss mountains, so it really
withstands the cold brilliantly well. And of course we have had a
couple of very cold spells this winter. Which means they are
absolutely blooming marvellous! They're to grow. And there is no way
you can spoil them, they love lots of organic matter and a good mulch
also. And one of them has to be Amadeus, positively symphonic!
Foxgloves a lower on this glorious naturalistic stand, they are
wonderful. Everybody recognises foxgloves, a familiar site. It was
great, big trumpets with those spotty throats, always growing along
hedgerows in shady places but there are exceptions to the rule, here is
one of them. This is a foxglove, silver fox. You just do not want to
look at this, you do want to touch the leaves, they are gloriously
soft. Usually that is the sign that a plant loves living in sunshine,
and that is the case here. An unusual foxglove, in belting hot sun
and will be fine, but if you want to keep it over the winter, perhaps it
is a good idea to actually protect it from the wet. But there are loads
of varieties of our favourite plants that can cope with the hot, dry
summers that we are being told to expect and we will be looking at one
of them right through the week.
The flowers are certainly looking spectacular this year.
But there's so much more to see here in the Great Pavilion.
Fruit and veg have always played a big part too.
Someone who knows a thing or two about that is Frances Tophill.
Welcome back to Chelsea, Frances.
Have you seen anything you want to grow that you have not grown yet? I
am always experimenting but I want to grow some Pak Choi like that!
There is not a single slug hole on it, it is exciting to see that
amongst the flowers and more traditional displays. This is show
quality. Look at those tomatoes, already fruiting! There is a
mushroom exhibit also. Demonstrating how to grow mushrooms. Something you
might grow in the future? I have never grown them, would you? I love
eating mushrooms, they are very good for you also. Very brave to try that
for Chelsea! Chelsea mushrooms!
Making their debut this year are the Caleys.
Why mushrooms?
Texture, flavour, nutritional benefit.
Versatility.
They're beautiful to grow.
I think you're in two camps with mushrooms.
You either love them or you're a bit nervous about them.
So we are the Caley Bros.
Technically sisters.
I'm Lorraine.
And I'm Jodie.
That's looking good.
This one is nearly ready to harvest, and then we can do
this one as well today.
I agree.
Ready to go.
Looking lovely.
We are on the South Downs in West Sussex, and this is where
we set up to grow our mushrooms.
Lorraine has got the big sister organised energy.
And I bring the chaos.
Organised chaos.
It is always organised chaos.
We work together really well, which is surprising because growing
up we didn't like each other at all.
We are called Caley Bros.
Our grandparents had a greengrocers and they were called Caley Bros.
It was Granddad and his brother Bill, so when we started
producing fresh produce, it seemed like a really natural
thing for us to take the name.
So a mushroom is the fruiting body of a fungi.
Fungi for many years were classed as vegetables, but they're not.
They actually have their own kingdom.
That's because they don't rely on photosynthesis like plants do.
The mushroom is a very small part of a larger organism.
Mycelium is the root system of the mushrooms.
They grow hyphae, which reach out to seek nutrients
in the soil in the ground.
If you think of an apple on a tree, that's the mushroom,
and then the mycelium network going underneath the soil
is the rest of the tree and the branches and the root system.
This is a substrate that we use for our mix with grey oysters.
This is straw.
We are going to add coffee to this as well.
We soak the straw, ready for the mix, so it's
the right level of hydration.
So when we add the mycelium, because obviously they need water to grow.
Substrate is your growing medium that you have added spawn to.
So for us, with our grey oysters, our substrate is straw and coffee,
and so each mushroom has its own substrate.
This is some coffee grounds that we've collected from a local cafe.
It comes in the puck shape sometimes.
You just break it down.
It smells lovely!
So you've got the mycelium here.
What will happen during incubation period is the mycelium will carry
on colonising the rest of the substrate.
We'll give this a mix, we'll give it turn and put it
into buckets and then we'll leave it for 21 days.
21 days is a good time for the spawn to fully colonise the whole
bucket of substrate.
I'm going to give it a turn.
So it's just evenly mixing the spawn throughout the substrate.
Done - ta-da!
We are not foragers.
We concentrate on cultivating gourmet edible mushrooms
in a controlled environment, so we know exactly what we are
growing and how it's grown and where it comes from.
So we grow our mushrooms in a grow tent.
It's a space that we can control completely in terms
of the humidity, temperature, light and even the airflow.
To start growing, I would start with a grey oyster mushroom.
They'll grow on such a wide range of different substrates.
Generally, they're such a strong strain that they'll get growing
and be really forgiving if you don't do everything perfectly.
You can grow mushrooms outside.
We encourage anyone to gather some used substrate from a mushroom
farmer to plant a mushroom bed.
It will add to the nutritional benefit of your soil as well as
giving you a crop of mushrooms.
Mushroom waste is great for the garden.
It's a great way of increasing the biodiversity within your soil.
So for Chelsea we are going to be showcasing indoor growing.
It's really important to us that we showcase different ways
you can get growing mushrooms in an indoor environment and you can
grow in all different kinds of ways.
So this is a rolled-up pair of jeans.
And then we've wrapped it up with mycelium, with spawn,
and you can see the white stuff.
That's all the mycelium starting to grow.
Mycelium is digesting the jeans and using it
for nutrition to grow mushrooms.
Also for the Chelsea display, this is one we are trialling.
We are growing mushrooms on books.
So you can see the mycelium here has started to consume
all the paper, all of the pages.
You can grow on almost anything, as long as it's natural fibres
and you pasteurise it by soaking it in boiling water.
We are really nervous with mushroom growing
because they grow so quickly, we don't want to be seeing anything
growing until we are packing the car up to head down to Chelsea.
We have to have complete faith in our growing ability to know
that they will appear when we want them to appear.
When we walk away from Chelsea we want to have had many,
many conversations with people about how easy it is to get growing
mushrooms, and that many more people will go home and start doing it.
And realise how simple it is.
Give it a go.
Give it a grow, as we say.
Give it a grow.
Go on - give it a grow.
And this is their stand. Not quite finished but I could not resist
having a look. There are some beautifully finessed pieces, the
yellow oyster mushroom is almost regal. And then the denim and the
books, it has almost decayed and is being colonised by the fungi, in
this beautiful, distressed way and I really like it. The nice thing is
these have been grown pita free, they are stunning. Here we go, you
look finished. Getting there! It has gone well. Touch and go at times but
otherwise it has turned out fine. We are happy. It looks incredible. Has
it been tricky to get them perfect for Chelsea? That was the hardest
part, managing the timing is because different mushrooms take different
times to grow so something like this has been growing well before
Christmas and we have been fruiting since January and the oyster
mushrooms grow in a matter of weeks. And how will they last? Really well
in sight, it is quite humid and we have grown them to the point where
they are ready and they look beautiful but they will continue to
grow over the next week so the forms will change and they will grow in
size so we're really excited about how it will evolve. How do you know
when they are ready to pick? Are different, big telling point is when
they start dropping spores and you get that nice little white patch
underneath but the oyster mushrooms, the caps will flatten out, and you
can pick this one now or leave them to grow and they will carry on
growing slowly. Everybody wants to win the gold at Chelsea but is more
to the stand? What are you hoping for? Conversations about bringing
mushroom growing indoors amongst a houseplants because they are
beautiful and they need light to grow. And everything we have got
here, as complex as it looks, there are ready to grow kits. I'm sure you
will get the conversations because this is such a talking point and
fingers crossed for the gold as well!
There's so much creativity going on in there but the garden
designers are being no less imaginative outside.
This is the Fauna & Flora Garden designed by Jilayne Rickards.
Look at this. I am so high up I can see across the showground, an
amazing plot and behind me is one of the features. A huge waterfall. And
the sound and the experience is really immersive, it is wonderful.
This is a slice of the longer massive, the mountain range from
central Africa and it maps an eco-tourist trekking through the
jungle because this is really like jungle. Impenetrable. And it is lush
and it gives that lovely feeling. And what we find is a gorilla's nest
and if you see this, it means it was there this morning and they make one
every morning and it has moved on. I'm sure there is a gorilla around
here somewhere! It is a great garden to explore. And here is a designer.
Jilayne, congratulations. Lovely to see you. This is great fun. Your
first time on Main Avenue, how has that been? Prime location! You
cannot miss the garden! Especially where you were. There is a serious
message as well, not just about the eco-tourism but the gorilla habitat?
It is a programme based in central Africa about gorilla conservation
which people will remember when Richard Attenborough was with the
gorillas in 1979 and at his behest when he came back he asked one and
Flora to set up a conservation programme and this is what this is
based on, a successful model and the gorillas have gone from being
virtually extinct to just endangered so that is a massive step forwards
and it is based on a tourism project which puts people at the heart of
conservation. The key to this success. The whole community around
the space where shallow you have to support people, they have to have a
livelihood and you cannot just go in the jungle any more, then what can
they do? But if they are supported to make an income from other ways
understand the importance of conserving gorillas, that is what
makes it work. What do you hope people take away from this week?
Week? I hope they take a good look at conservation globally but there
are parallels in this garden but I hope to inspire the public with so
we are cement and concrete free and we use recycled goods and we have
nothing going to landfill so there is a lot of environmental policies
we have been using in the garden which I hope will inspire the public
to think about what they can do in their own garden. Can they keep some
nettles? A bit of wildlife in the garden to increase the biodiversity
into their own plot? And it will live on. Lovely to meet you.
Congratulations.
Now, whether you're an experienced gardener who has been tending
to your prized borders - like these - for decades
or you're new to gardening, whether you have a large garden
or no space at all, there really is something
for everyone here at Chelsea, as Arit Anderson has
been to discover.
This year we're really seeing designers and exhibitors pull out
all the stops to show us innovative ways of how to make the most
of our space inside and out - even if you have no space at all.
You can bring your indoor space alive with these fantastic
terrariums and they come in all shapes and sizes, from the small to
the large, and this simple fern, and this Ivy can be elevated to this
ornamental, fabulous piece in your home, highly ascetic and very on
trend and even better, very low maintenance. Terrariums are suited
to most places in the home and you can get them from garden centres and
online. But it might even just be good to have a go at making your
own.
own. Many of us have limited outdoor space. Be only the patio or a small
courtyard or something like this, a balcony. But there are so many
tricks that can be used to make the most of the size of garden. The
footprint of this balcony is really quite small, only two metres by five
metres. But the designer has been clever and has used the vertical
aspect to make the most of the space so by using these Pergolas and
keeping them narrow so they do not impose, they not only act as a space
division but it allows for climbers to be in the garden, like this,
giving off this gorgeous recurrence.
Hard landscaping choices on a balcony are really important because
you have to think about the way they blend in. Here the designer has
chosen lightweight containers and very cleverly incorporated a water
feature into it, which is great for the residents living here, a
wonderful sound, but importantly it helps wildlife come into the space,
acts as a bird bath. I love how it sits with this planting palette
which has been chosen to encourage pollinators and wildlife, which is
what you want in cities, a wildlife corridor, every little space helps.
And for me I can just sit back, relax and enjoy it all.
If getting a bunch of flowers is the limit to how you can get plants into
your home, then we can all take inspiration from the florists and
take our displays to a whole other level. I do like a balcony. I have
got a balcony at home but it is about up to here, so it has enough
room for me and a chair and a book and that is it. That is quite a lot.
No plans? Not on my balcony, but I overlook my garden. A lot of new
bills are incorporating larger balconies so that you can set out
and grow staff in containers and connect with the outdoor world. And
have a good view. And have a good view.
Chelsea Flower Show - an event supported by
The Newt in Somerset.
Soon Adam Frost's going to be taking a first look at the sanctuaries -
the small gardens which are all about wellness - to see how
they are inspiring us to connect with nature.
But first, it's time to look at a garden from a Chelsea legend.
Mark Gregory is returning as a designer for the first time
since 2019 and going for gold medal number six.
Having joined him on the build, I saw first-hand that he really
is a master of his craft.
Mark Gregory. Hello. Here you are again. How many times has this been?
It is my hundred and seventh garden, this is my 34th year. Wow. What are
you creating for us? Right now there are a lot of holes. There are a lot
of holes. Where are we standing? We are standing here. It is the most
technologically challenging garden I have ever done. This is the walled
garden and this is the chef is my kitchen in the walled garden and
there is a working kitchen in here and for the first time in Chelsea
they have allowed me to serve a meal service. The concrete that you see
here was poured yesterday. It has got no cement in it. The process of
making cement is very high carbon and it is very damaging. It is not
so much the concrete itself, it is what goes in. So we have got carbon
reduction on this concrete and it is immense. For the backing walled we
are using it out of straw bricks, so I am really trying to drive
sustainability in what is a very traditional build. Do you worry
about it still? You have got one chance to do something world-class.
I think this will be my best garden ever. There is a lot of planning,
but what you can't plan is the weather. The weather is fantastic,
look. This is what I need, a dry build. Mark, this has changed a bit.
Yes, absolutely. The weather has been tricky. You said, I need a dry
Chelsea and you have not quite had that. Brickwork and rain don't go
together, especially when you are using mud and straw blocks. It is
challenging. How tired are you? Pretty. You work on adrenaline, it
is like running a marathon. You prepare yourself and go at it is not
a sprint. The back wall is the old walled garden and we have
artistically distressed it. We have put all screws and nails and rust
marks in there, so when we put the layers on, everything has to be
secured and you have to do the next phase. You cannot do that at the
expense of the plants. This is about the plants, the flower show is about
the plans. It is all about deconstruction and allowing time to
get the plants and. That is the difference between your garden and
others here, there is one tree. Everything else is under
construction. You have only got one tree. I have only got one tree. I
love the way you talk about it. I can see that you believe it. You
have to believe it. The weather has been challenging for sure, let's
leave it at that really. Let's hope the sun will be shining. Wow, Mark,
what a transformation, amazing. Yes, we are really in a good place and
the weather has been with us now and we are bang on schedule. There is a
lot of planting to be done. It would seem so, but a lot of them are
vegetables and they will go in very quickly. They can't go into soon
because the weather will kill them. So actually we are bang on. We have
got the artists dressing all the trees this morning and the streams.
The artists dressing the streams? It really is a theatre. To me I look at
these gardens as theatre productions. That is how I look at
them. They are here to entertain. For me it is about suspension of
belief. Here we have got a little vista through their so the diners
are screened but you have got a gap through there. Just to explain every
day you have got an eight seat table and you are having Chelsea
Pensioners in their every day for lunch? Correct. A chef cooking for
them. The whole thing. Sam Dunkley, who is a sustainable chef forages
out of the garden. I wanted to take things out of the Chelsea garden,
which again is a bit risky. I will need to coach him. I am afraid the
garden will look a bit bare. That is what I want. I want the public to
see him how he is making his pesto and his sources and making cocktails
and doing all those things. You did say it was the most ambitious garden
you have ever done. I can see why.
I can see why.
And as if my magic, it's here!
It's been completed in just three weeks but already looks
like it's been here forever.
What he has created is this intimate, walled garden with a glass
veranda and this open-air dining area, seasonal dining area, but the
table is laid and ready for the first Chelsea Pensioners who are
going to be able to come here and have lunch tomorrow. There is
exquisite attention to detail. This wonderful water feature here. It is
a traditional garden full of roses, peonies and euphoria, but as you
move towards the front there are all these vegetable beds, very important
vegetable bed, Mark Gregory. This is what will be feeling the Chelsea
Pensioners. Have a seat, you must be exhausted. It has been a difficult
day, really. Are you please? Absolutely delighted, I have had in
my head for the last three years and it has turned out how I wanted it
to. It is full of detail. But the whole thing about bringing a chef to
Chelsea and taking the crops out of the garden and showing people what
to do with the vegetables and where food comes from, it is great. You
have got ornamentals as well. When does a vegetable become an
ornamental plant? We are planting the vegetables in the ornamentals
and it becomes an edible and ornamental plant. Things like chive,
sage, fennel, and that fusion is what we are going to do. And the
chef will be using what you have planted here to make the lunch. We
have empty flower beds by the end of the week? We have got a lot of stock
behind the stand, but he will take things out and he will make his
sources and his cocktail. I have been in there and it smells
spectacular. He has got some roasted garlic in there. For me it is about
educating the public and transporting the public into a
magical space. It will be wonderful to see the first Chelsea Pensioners
there because this after all is their back garden. That has not been
done before and it is a theatre with plants and that is how I describe
this garden. It is a suspension of belief and I love that. Tomorrow we
get the audience here as well to see what you have created. Lovely to see
you. Thank you.
From one familiar face to another - someone else making a return
to Main Avenue is designer Darren Hawkes.
He's back after six years and it seems he's taken on a big challenge,
as Rachel de Thame's been finding out.
This is the lesson garden, it marks the 70th anniversary of the
Samaritans.
It's designed to be a place of comfort but also explores
the wide range of feelings often felt by those seeking help.
As soon as you come into the garden you get the sense it has two very
different atmospheres. At the front it is very heavy and strong and you
have got this wonderful, rustic, metal support and from its extent
these concrete slabs, beautifully shaped. But they are on these very
slender wires so you already feel a little bit uneasy that they might
just drop. At your feet the ground might open up. There are big fishers
going through it. You can't see the bottom, but you can hear the trickle
of water, so it is all again a little bit unnerving. And the
planting as well, we have got some hostile looking plants. Everything
is thorny, look at the thorns on these very slender wires so you
already feel a little bit uneasy that they might just drop. At your
feet the ground might open up. There are big fissures going through it.
You can't see the bottom, but you can hear the trickle of water, so it
is all again a little bit unnerving. And the planting as well, we have
got some hostile looking plants. Everything is thorny, look at the
thorns in this role. It is very spiny down through there. This has a
lot of sharp angles in it and the twists and turns make you feel
uncomfortable. But then you move into the space and it feels calmer
and much more open, much brighter, and the mood really begins to
change. It is extraordinary as how you move through the garden you get
a story developing. What was your thinking? I wanted to try and convey
the journey that some of our callers go through, so the trepidation of
making a call, the feelings and thoughts they might have that
spurred them to call Samaritans and hopefully the kind of calm that we
can sometimes bring about at the end of a call in this space we are in
now. How have you made that come about? Is it through the use of
plans or materials? I think it is everything. It is the layout.
Clearly the front of the garden is quite claustrophobic with these big,
hanging sheets of concrete. It is far more beautiful than I expected
but it is slightly oppressive. Then the softer, woodland planting at the
back, it is very much a wooden glade with an overhanging tree. Simple
things but it has created a real atmosphere. I know you have trying
to become a listening volunteer yourself, which is wonderful. How
has that fed into the design for the garden? It is obviously very
personal reasons that anyone gets involved in that. The voices and the
conversations you have had have stayed with me and it is months and
months of work shaping all of this concrete which I did myself. And
every one of those calls has fed that process. It is a real privilege
to be able to take those calls. You very much get the sense that heart
and soul has gone into this garden, that it is very important to you, I
think is a triumph. Well done, and I hope you have a brilliant week at
the show. Thank you very much.
Now us gardeners are always learning and looking for new ideas.
Adam Frost may have won seven gold medals here but he's still seeking
inspiration for new ways of doing things from far and wide.
I've come down to the century gardens to find out a bit more about
how societies around the world influence gardens, but also,
importantly, connect with nature. -- sanctuary gardens. In the West we
have a tendency to want to bring the inside out and this is a classic
outside room. The first thing that jumped out to me where the use of
levels. I stepped down into that space at the moment you do, you sit
down and feel more comfortable, you are in the landscape. Then we move
from the beautiful to the practical, or practical and beautiful, but
imagine your barbecue tucked away, put it on and you are enjoying the
garden. We divide space a lot. You have got a big, strong wall. That
could be a hedge or timber framework, but then it is bang, in
your face. A big focal point it says, come and sit down.
I was not expecting that, there is an element of surprise. Elegant
water. But it is the surprise it is important, but also the change of
atmosphere and I am now away from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen
so I am having a calmer moment because my eye line is really
connecting me to the plants, this would be a pretty nice place to
watch the sun go down.
The Japanese tend to have huge respect for the landscape so when
they create gardens, it is about bringing the landscape right in, as
close as possible so you can really touch it. Think about the rocks
here, it represents something. Mountains, islands, and then the
planting is stunning. They tend to favour a more informal design but it
is still balanced and here you have the building and if there was not a
tree here this would look quite uncomfortable so that balances
everything out. The water is ridiculous, which is calming, and I
know not everybody will create a rock pool like that but that sound
is coming from breaking the water so if you want to create something, if
it hits things as it goes down to the bottom, that will create the
sound. This building is stunning. This is a little teahouse tucked
into the corner but it is not isolated, the rockwork comes in and
the walls are green so it feels really calm.
really calm. So, are you going east or West? Or maybe just have a little
bit of both...
bit of both... Spectacular garden.
There's a Japanese influence going on here
in the Great Pavilion as well.
Award-winning grower Paul Harris is going for his eighth gold
and his display this year will be combining his love of hostas with
his new-found passion for bonsai.
I've always had an affinity with nature and wildlife.
When I was young, I had an allotment with my grandad.
I grew vegetables and flowers.
I entered flower shows.
Then I had a career involving horticulture.
I used to visit growers, and I was very envious of those
growers and I wanted to be a grower.
And so I retired from my day job to set up a nursery.
I'm Paul Harris.
I love hostas, and I became a hosta specialist with a nursery
about 15 years ago.
Hostas is a really attractive foliage plant.
There is a long season of interest.
It will last throughout the summer.
There is a huge range of varieties and variation in forms.
You've got miniature hostas through to giants and all sorts
of different colours.
I like giants because they are impressive, the sight of them.
But I like miniatures because of the intricate
form, shape and colours.
The truth is, yes, I like them all.
These are all my hostas.
Hostas are herbaceous perennial.
It means that it dies down every year and will come back every year.
They're perfectly hardy.
They can tolerate really cold conditions.
It's best to avoid them getting waterlogged in the winter.
Hostas prefer a shady situation.
They can take morning sun but avoid the midday sun.
You can grow them in pots or in the ground.
They're not fussy about the soil but they do like plenty of moisture.
I'm very interested and concerned about conservation
and so I avoid using pesticides.
Slugs and snails I control with either nematodes or keeping
them off the ground and away from the slugs and snails.
I've been exhibiting at Chelsea for nine years.
I've got seven consecutive gold medals, and that's great
and I would like to build on that.
I've got to a point where I want to do something a bit more ambitious
towards the end of my career.
So to feature my other interest - bonsai trees.
Bonsai is a tree in a pot and Yamadori is a bonsai tree
which has been grown from a plant from the wild, from a tree stump.
I've been collecting bonsai for four years.
I've gone overboard.
I've got about 300 trees, and they take a long time to develop.
Perhaps ten years or more.
Besides horticulture, I'm very interested in conservation.
Hi, everyone.
Come on, lazybones!
I've been involved in a number of conservation activities,
on monitoring birds and butterflies and reptiles.
As part of our conservation activity is to conserve
butterflies and rare orchids, we need to clear scrub.
My job is to manage the Wye National Nature Reserve.
Managing the land, species monitoring, and then manage
the volunteers as well.
Paul's work on the reserve, well, he does all kinds of things here.
He does bird monitoring, butterfly monitoring,
but he also does a lot of habitat management as well, like we see
behind us with the tree popping.
We pull these trees out of the ground, roots and all.
This is the waste material from this work.
Paul actually takes it away, plants it up and makes
these bonsais out of it, so it's a win-win for both of us.
So this is a blackthorn tree which we pulled out
of the ground today.
It's got an interesting shape which has the potential to make
a bonsai tree in a few years' time.
For Paul to collect these bonsai he needs to have written permission
from Natural England, so someone can't just come
and just do it as they will.
If Paul and the volunteers didn't remove the trees,
then we would have scrub encroachment on the chalk grassland.
So chalk grassland is thin soil over a limey, chalky type rock.
So the conditions are very, very nutrient poor, meaning it's
very important for orchids, for invertebrates, butterflies.
Around about 80% of the chalk grassland has been lost in the UK
through agricultural intensification, scrub encroachment,
secondary woodland, that sort of thing.
This is a cowslip.
This is the food plant of the Duke of Burgundy butterfly,
which is one of the rare species that we are trying
to look after here.
I like coming down here.
Fresh air, exercise, and being involved in conservation,
feeling I'm doing something good for the environment.
So we are just a few weeks from Chelsea Flower Show.
I am looking forward, and nervous!
For some years I've been planning a more ambitious display,
and so this allows me to combine my interest in koi
and bonsai with my hobby and passion for hostas.
I find koi carp are extremely attractive and colourful.
I hope it'll bring something different for the visitors
to Chelsea Flower Show.
Koi haven't been exhibited previously.
Some are friendly, some will come up and take food
from my hand and some will hover around, standoffish.
I've got to be careful that the koi don't predominate over the planting,
so we've limited the size and scale of the planting compared to the koi.
Chelsea, for me, is about the medal, but also it's the pleasure
of staging a display, and also I'd like to get
the conservation message across.
And here it is - Paul's biggest display for Chelsea ever.
It is looking absolutely spectacular. The hostas are taking
centre stage and I love the way he has planted them together, as you
would in the garden, Meekison M up and they love the dappled shade
underneath the trees as long as there is moisture in the ground so
divide them up and put them around and I love the way he has worked
with nature to create this wonderful exhibit. Paul, looking really good,
but I like the way you have got your personality in this because this is
all of your interests and a collective range of interests and
all about conservation as well? I have been interested in hostas for a
long time but also conservation, I spend a lot of time on the nature
reserves doing scrub clearing and collecting tree stumps which I have
started turning into Yamadori bonsai. You have them here but let's
talk about the Koi carp because they are here. We have not seen livestock
in the Great Pavilion before? This was a subject of negotiation for
many years with the RHS for permission to bring livestock into
the marquee. You have won the debate, they are spectacular. Big
fish! They are really as good as they get. And the bonsai... They are
slightly aside, they are not dominating this stand, you have
grown them yourself and they take a very long time to get them to this
perfection? This is a Japanese theme so the Koi carp and the hostas
originate from the far east and over Covid I started collecting trees
from the nature reserve and these are not very old, there was some
discussion about Yamadori in development rather than the finished
bonsai trees and they look respectable but they are not quite
finished. They look great. Seven gold medals so what are the hopes
for the week ahead? Another gold, of course. But being such a complex
stand there is always something the judges might find that is not quite
right. I cannot see anything wrong, congratulations and well done. Enjoy
yourself.
This is a very special garden here at Chelsea this year.
Designed by Dave Green, it's a tribute to the late Queen
and our newly-crowned King.
It is a garden of two halves, behind the benches, beautiful pinks and
whites, the roses of the foxglove, some of the favourite flowers of the
Queen and Don McKeever, one of the very favourite, lily of the valley.
Further forward, it becomes wild and that reflects the garden at
Highgrove, the King's country home in the meadows at this time of year
are full of these, and this is why the garden is filled today.
We're all looking forward to the Royal visit tomorrow.
But before we look to the future, here is our own tribute to the late
Queen and her long association with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
For seven decades, one woman became synonymous with the RHS Chelsea
Flower Show. As patron, Queen Elizabeth II rarely missed her
annual trip to visit the showground and show his report for the
horticultural world. A keen gardener, Chelsea provided plenty of
inspiration and a chance to meet like-minded men and women, the
growers of her favourite flowers. Every year was such a great thrill
for the exhibitors and many years ago she asked with the calamitous
grow at Balmoral so we were delighted to plant and they thrived
very well. With the most, the Queen saw the changing fashions of
gardening over the last 70 years and was a supporter of designer is keen
to make their mark. Would you believe that I once said to the
Queen, yes, but my greatest moment but I was talking about my old man
and my wife and my nan and as she walked away, yes, but in reality she
made me feel incredibly relaxed. And I thought I was talking to my nan.
She gave the royal seal of approval to budding designers in the family
whenever Her Majesty arrived, there was a sense of anticipation and
excitement. Her final visit was no different, when in her Platinum
Jubilee ear, she was treated to a display of her favourite flowers.
Always an immense pleasure to meet Her Majesty the Queen at Chelsea and
last year the RHS asked me to create their tribute to her. 70 pots of
lily of the valley, her favourite flower. Those who saw and met the
Queen at Chelsea will have memories to cherish forever. She really did
love Chelsea. I was standing on the spot last year when we met and she
engaged in the garden, she really loved it. He told her a lot of jokes
about bees. She loved them, she smiled and engaged. She enjoyed the
jokes and she did love Chelsea!
That's it for tonight.
Our coverage continues tomorrow on BBC One
at 3.45pm when Nicki Chapman and Angellica Bell will be
bringing you all the excitement from press day.
And you know what, Sophie - you might need to get a hat because,
in a Chelsea first, tomorrow there's also going to be a wedding
on this very garden..
Yes! You will need the hat.
I'll be back with Monty on BBC Two tomorrow at 7.30pm.
And we'll be here all week bringing the very best from Chelsea.
Bye for now!