Insider Tricks for Creating the Chelsea Flower Show Garden Look
Keen to give your garden a design boost? There’s no better place to find new inspiration than this season’s garden shows
If you’re looking for inspiration for your garden, the UKs annual flower shows are a great source of ideas. The Royal Horticultural Society’s famous Chelsea Flower Show is in May, but there are lots of other great garden shows from where you can steal ideas, too, from simple planting tips that only cost the price of a cutting to the bigger features that allow us to make use of our gardens throughout the day and across all seasons. Here are some key elements you’ll see every time that make a good show garden, but that also make a great real garden for real people.
Go for a simple design feature
This 36-seater bench in a conceptual garden in New Zealand would be a great focal point for any garden – and the idea could be scaled to fit your space. It will work especially well if you love giving parties and entertaining large groups of people.
For a lower-key alternative, instead of designing around a tree as in this garden, you might place lots of informal seating made from logs around a fire pit. This should also mean you get more use of the garden into the night and at the chillier end of the summer.
This 36-seater bench in a conceptual garden in New Zealand would be a great focal point for any garden – and the idea could be scaled to fit your space. It will work especially well if you love giving parties and entertaining large groups of people.
For a lower-key alternative, instead of designing around a tree as in this garden, you might place lots of informal seating made from logs around a fire pit. This should also mean you get more use of the garden into the night and at the chillier end of the summer.
Create a laid-back garden room
Many show gardens feature ultra-modern garden offices, but you can also create a simple room made from off-the-shelf units, as in this garden designed by Alan Titchmarsh at the Chelsea Flower Show 2014.
And of course you can customise it to your own style to create the perfect garden retreat.
Browse gorgeous garden rooms you’ll never want to leave
Many show gardens feature ultra-modern garden offices, but you can also create a simple room made from off-the-shelf units, as in this garden designed by Alan Titchmarsh at the Chelsea Flower Show 2014.
And of course you can customise it to your own style to create the perfect garden retreat.
Browse gorgeous garden rooms you’ll never want to leave
Embrace the wild
Randomised planting patterns of wilder-looking plants can lead to interesting combinations and plants supporting each other. In this show garden in France, grasses will support the flowers of other plants without the need for visible canes.
The look is intentionally wild, which means that with your own garden you can go away on holiday and come back to perfect planting with no need for maintenance.
Randomised planting patterns of wilder-looking plants can lead to interesting combinations and plants supporting each other. In this show garden in France, grasses will support the flowers of other plants without the need for visible canes.
The look is intentionally wild, which means that with your own garden you can go away on holiday and come back to perfect planting with no need for maintenance.
Brave some colour
This garden by Darren Hawkes uses strong structural walls as a great foil for lots of foliage in strong colours, especially that zingy acid green grass. Generally, cool colours will help create a feeling of space in a small garden, while richer, darker reds, pinks and foliage greens will create a more sultry feel.
While hard features, such as paving, boundary walls and buildings, can be too dominant in a garden, soft plants with bold colours allow you to make a statement with style.
This garden by Darren Hawkes uses strong structural walls as a great foil for lots of foliage in strong colours, especially that zingy acid green grass. Generally, cool colours will help create a feeling of space in a small garden, while richer, darker reds, pinks and foliage greens will create a more sultry feel.
While hard features, such as paving, boundary walls and buildings, can be too dominant in a garden, soft plants with bold colours allow you to make a statement with style.
Choose architectural plants
Structural plants are important if you want to provide long-lasting interest, as this show garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show illustrates. Multi-stemmed trees add structure throughout the year, even when they’ve lost their leaves, and traditional hedges are much softer and cheaper to install than a hard fence or wall.
Structural plants are important if you want to provide long-lasting interest, as this show garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show illustrates. Multi-stemmed trees add structure throughout the year, even when they’ve lost their leaves, and traditional hedges are much softer and cheaper to install than a hard fence or wall.
Draw on local expertise
We can’t all be experts in the garden, so if you want to copy a feature, such as these walls, then find a professional landscaper. And for those unusual projects, get a craftsperson in, because, just as with your interior, detail is everything.
If you choose materials indigenous to your area, it will be easier to find local craftspeople with skills relevant to them. And of course, by staying local for your materials, including plants, your garden will seem as if it’s been there for years.
We can’t all be experts in the garden, so if you want to copy a feature, such as these walls, then find a professional landscaper. And for those unusual projects, get a craftsperson in, because, just as with your interior, detail is everything.
If you choose materials indigenous to your area, it will be easier to find local craftspeople with skills relevant to them. And of course, by staying local for your materials, including plants, your garden will seem as if it’s been there for years.
Play with levels
In this garden by Kate Gould at the Chelsea Flower Show 2011, the main seating area has been placed above ground level and the walls have been built wide enough to serve as additional seating for when guests arrive. A few cushions added to a low wall or even steps can provide informal seating for when you have extra visitors.
Sloping gardens can be great, because you can use a retaining wall to sit on and be right next to the plants. And of course they are a great starting point for a water feature.
In this garden by Kate Gould at the Chelsea Flower Show 2011, the main seating area has been placed above ground level and the walls have been built wide enough to serve as additional seating for when guests arrive. A few cushions added to a low wall or even steps can provide informal seating for when you have extra visitors.
Sloping gardens can be great, because you can use a retaining wall to sit on and be right next to the plants. And of course they are a great starting point for a water feature.
Use found materials
Whether you’re on a budget or have lots to spend, it doesn’t hurt to look around you and see what’s already available. Try to look at materials you’d otherwise throw away and think how you could repurpose them, even if it’s just to create habitats where bees, insects and other wildlife can overwinter.
In this show garden, Kate Gould used corrugated iron panels for an urban city feel. Old mattress springs were refurbished to provide an industrial trellis and a bath was cut in half for some unique seating.
Find more ideas for using metals in your garden design
Whether you’re on a budget or have lots to spend, it doesn’t hurt to look around you and see what’s already available. Try to look at materials you’d otherwise throw away and think how you could repurpose them, even if it’s just to create habitats where bees, insects and other wildlife can overwinter.
In this show garden, Kate Gould used corrugated iron panels for an urban city feel. Old mattress springs were refurbished to provide an industrial trellis and a bath was cut in half for some unique seating.
Find more ideas for using metals in your garden design
Let your imagination run free
In this garden by Balston Agius, simple timber blocks were used for a boundary wall. The planting in front is simple, adding to the sculptural feel.
When setting out your own garden, you might also take inspiration from the simple flourish of the lawn as a great way to provide direction and make a bold statement while also being easy to maintain.
TELL US…
Have you ever been inspired by a garden show plot? Do share tips and photos of any ideas you’ve brought to life in your own patch in the Comments below.
In this garden by Balston Agius, simple timber blocks were used for a boundary wall. The planting in front is simple, adding to the sculptural feel.
When setting out your own garden, you might also take inspiration from the simple flourish of the lawn as a great way to provide direction and make a bold statement while also being easy to maintain.
TELL US…
Have you ever been inspired by a garden show plot? Do share tips and photos of any ideas you’ve brought to life in your own patch in the Comments below.
One of the downsides of copying a great planting scheme from the flower shows is that you’re getting a snapshot of plants that are at their best at that point in the year. This garden was planted in May, so featured lots of late spring and early summer plants, but maybe nothing for July or August.
If you want the show look, then visit lots of events through the year and see what’s best at different times. This way you’ll know what to try to ensure your garden will look good whatever the season. Plan through the year and then hit the autumn planting season with your ideas to create a long-lasting display for the following season.