THE OUTSIDERS
Eccentric twists, herbal healing and, of course, the Queen’s 90th birthday, are all themes of this year’s top horticultural event. Hannah Stephenson previews the highlights of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Maverick designer Diarmuid Gavin is back and is bound to draw attention with his Harrods Eccentric British Garden, inspired by designer Heath Robinson, with swirly topiary and an octagonal folly. Every 15 minutes, box balls will bob up and down, conical bay trees begin to twirl, and planting will rise from the ground.
Wellbeing is a big theme of this year’s show and herb queen and RHS ambassador Jekka McVicar has come up trumps with A Modern Apothecary Garden, promoting food as medicine. It features heart-strengthening hawthorns, a cobbled path which is instant reflexology if you walk on it bare-foot, lavender, rosemary and other wellbeing stalwarts.
Other wellbeing gardens have been designed by Chris Beardshaw, whose show garden for Morgan Stanley will be relocated to Great Ormond Street Hospital after the show as a therapeutic space for parents. Anne-Marie Powell is designing the official RHS Greening Grey Britain garden (not a show garden) to support its campaign, featuring bright borders to lift the spirits, benches to relax and share a chat on, soothing water features, a bee-friendly perennial meadow, edible plants in pots and a stylish kitchen garden.
In the Fresh Gardens category featuring smaller gardens, check out a weird-looking granite cube surrounded by ashes and charred fencing. Look through the cracks and you’ll see a mass of planting in The Antithesis of Sarcophagi garden, sponsored by The Marble and Granite Centre.
If you love seeing gardens inspired by foreign places, designer Sarah Eberle is back with an Artisan Garden inspired by the Mekong River in Cambodia. The 7m x 5m space is entirely water, with a small deck leading to a floating lounger styled on a traditional fishing boat.
Look out for the unique “Together We Can” acoustic garden, developed by Peter Eustance of Symphonic Gardens for disability charity Papworth Trust, inspired by world-famous profoundly deaf percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie. Features include a water marimba which will transform the garden into a musical instrument amid a backdrop of natural woodland copse, interwoven with features that evoke the equipment of a recording studio. The overall form of the garden will be reminiscent of the structure of the ear.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from May 24-28 at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea. For details visit www.rhs.org.uk