Gardening

Sustainability

the key theme at Chelsea Flower Show

Medite Smartply’s Building the Future Garden

Sue Fisher talks about the delights of the show, and gives readers tips and tricks for their gardens this summer

The annual Chelsea Flower Show is always packed with inspiration and this year was ‘greener’ than ever before, with sustainability being a key theme of many gardens. Out of the crowd-pulling large show gardens, the coveted Best in Show award was won by A Rewilding Britain Landscape, highlighting the importance of beavers in mitigating fl ooding and improving water quality. Okay, so introducing beavers isn’t a garden-scale possibility, but using pretty native plants like sweet woodruff , foxglove, wild carrot and honeysuckle, and natural materials to fi lter water and for making charming features, certainly is. Elsewhere, the spectacular construction of the Medite Smartply’s Building the Future really drew the crowds. Made from waste from the timber industry, yet stone-like in appearance, this exterior MDF-like material was used to construct a huge cave-like structure with a waterfall cascading dramatically from the roof. The St Mungo’s garden in cheerfully clashing colours reused material from previous shows. Other gardens aimed to educate as

well as inspire, including the Blue Peter garden, Discover Soil, and Metas’ Growing the Future that promoted the importance of fungal networks. Edible gardening was a big theme in gardens of all sizes, and the varied containers used in the Wild Kitchen Garden showed how even the smallest of spaces can look wonderful and provide a rich harvest too. Of course, every garden was “ The spectacular construction of the Medite Smartply’s packed with luscious planting, with many gardens themed to support wildlife and boost Building the Future really drew biodiversity. Most spectacular the crowds. Made from waste from the timber industry, yet of all was the BBC Studios Our Green Planet and RHS Bee Garden, with a sumptuous stone-like in appearance, ” multi-coloured tapestry of nectar and pollen-rich plants. Lower-growing plants including salvias, geums, verbena, geraniums, nepeta, and eryngium, woven between taller and more structural plants like Euphorbia mellifera, multi-stemmed Euonymus, statuesque angelica, and foxglove spires. Inside the Great Pavilion was total plant heaven, with specialist nurseries showcasing a huge variety of plants, from agapanthus and delphiniums

Growing the future - The Meta Garden to roses, restios, salvias, and zantedeschias. While it’s not possible to actually buy plants at Chelsea (until the fi nal day when there’s a grand sell-off of exhibits), nurseries were doing a brisk trade in orders. The coveted RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year was won by x Semponium ‘Destiny’ from Surreal Succulents, an eye-catching purple-leaved architectural plant that is the fi rst ever between Aeonium and Sempervivum. The Sustainable Garden Product competition was packed with excellent entries. Peat-free potting composts featured strongly as (thank goodness), gardeners increasingly shun peat that is harvested from fast-dwindling bogs. The big gap in the market for a peat-free John Innes range was the well-deserved winner, from Dobies. Runners-up included two new

The Wild Kitchen Garden The Blue Peter Garden

composts from Dalefoot, made using sheeps wool and bracken; vibrantly coloured Ocean Plastic pots that are made from recycled fi shing nets and rope; ‘Ecoline’ tools from Gardena made with a high proportion of recycled plastic; Oxley’s aluminium garden furniture made from 95% recycled material; and Dartmoor company Twool has added a strong tree and shrub tie to its product range, made from sheep’s wool. Flower arrangers note: ‘Kenzan’ from Niwaki is a reusable alternative to fl orists’ foam, that securely holds woody as well as soft stems. n

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Seasonal gardening jobs and tips

Keep pots and borders looking good by regular deadheading, staking, and weeding. Edging the lawn can make a big diff erence to appearances too. Take cuttings, especially of tender and borderline hardy plants. Once rooted, pot individually into 9cm pots and keep under cover for the winter, and these will be your ‘insurance’ plants if a hard winter strikes. Order spring-fl owering bulbs to plant from September onwards. Narcissus (daff odils) are particularly appreciative of being planted early. Herbs like mint, parsley, and chives can be potted up ready to keep on windowsills for an autumn supply. Clean out greenhouses or polytunnels now while the weather is good. Take out all the pots and other stuff that tends to accumulate (where snails lurk) and wash the structure inside and out. Good hygiene avoids many pest and disease problems.

Sue Fisher

GARDEN DESIGNER & HORTICULTURAL SPECIALIST Inspirational ideas to transform your garden

Sue continues to be available for garden advisory visits and design work, operating according to Covid-19 social distancing guidelines. Gift vouchers available for garden advisory visits. Contact Sue for more details.

01822 841895 • suefi sher@talktalk.net • www.suefi shergardens.co.uk

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