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Chelsea Flower Show
After three long years away, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was back, inspiring thousands of budding gardeners and naturists. The Polhill team were lucky enough to attend and although we enjoyed a later show last year, May really is the perfect time to showcase just how beautiful your garden can be.
Whether you are looking out for them or not, there are always key themes that you take home with you and this year was no different. The show gardens at Chelsea have always been well known for their manicured lawns, perfect edging, with not a leave out of place (there are still a few like this, don’t worry!), but over the last few years everything has become a lot more relaxed! Consumers are now quite happy to let nature take over, which has been highly influenced from the ‘climate change debate’ and avid naturists such as the legendary David Attenborough who is passionate about our natural world.
Best Show Garden Winner – A Rewilding Britain Landscape
Designed by Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, the ‘Best Show Garden’ winner was awarded to ‘A Rewildling Britain Landscape’. This beautiful natural landscape is the result of ‘letting go’ and leaving it up to nature to do it’s best work, in this case the ‘beaver’ also known as nature’s eco-engineers.
Walking around the show, it was evident that everyone was inspired to take on the beautiful cottage style borders that included a mix of Ox-eye daisies, colourful lupins and towering Alliums, loved by the visitors and the wildlife too!
The ’in-perfect’ has become perfect and to that we say ‘hurrah, at last!’. We’re ready to ‘let go’ of the manicured, text book gardens and say hello to wild hedgerows that nature will surely thank us for. Once we allow nature to do it’s thing, something truly magical can happen and we may be quite surprised of the results.
Create your own natural landscape with our top wildflowers along with products for you make your own patch of wilderness!
Our favourite wildflowers & products
- Lawn Meadow Natural (Wildflowers Seed Mix)
- A unique blend of wildflower, lawn seed and seed soil granules ensuring the best and most natural results.
- Natures Haven Easy Wildflower Mix (6sqm)
- An all in one mix that will attract bees and butterflies to your garden
- Wildflower seed mix
Our Top Native Wildflower Plants
All available to purchase in store
Poppies
Foxgloves
Scabious
Daisies
Clematis
Allium
Lavender
BBC Studios Our Green Planet and RHS Bee Garden
Image credit: RHS (www.rhs.org.uk)
BBC Earth and the RHS have partnered together to create the stunning BBC Studios Our Green Planet and RHS Bee Garden. There is a beautiful silhouette of a bee’s wing which forms the central part to the design plus the entire space is populated with pollinator friendly plants, inspiring all of us to think about our planting choices and always keep the wildlife in mind!
The pandemic gave time and space for new gardeners to try their hand at something new but with lockdown rules, the normality of the day to day now not being very ‘normal’ our outside spaces also became a place of mindfulness, solitude and more importantly a place to stop and breath. Now more than ever we understand the importance of our mental wellbeing and also how being outside, surrounded by nature can do so much for our mental health.
This topic has dominated headlines, inspired the way we plant and also is now a common topic on the latest Gardening shows – which really is a breath of fresh air (pardon the pun)! There was no doubt mental health would be showcased once again at Chelsea and of course, the show gardens took it to another level yet again.
Our top pollinator plants
Foxglove
Lavender
Alliums
Verbena
Cosmos
Delphinium
Echinacea
Salvia
Scabiosa
Rudbeckia
Geranium
‘The Mind Garden’ by Andy Sturgeon is a garden dedicated to being present within nature, but is there to encourage us to share our thoughts with others too. The curved clay walls naturally lead you into the garden, getting you up close to nature and you’ll find a few seating areas tucked behind the walls that provide a place for contemplation and conversation too.
This garden will go on to support many people for years to come, as after the show it will be transported to it’s home at a local Mind in England, that provides eco-therapy for those suffering with mental health problems.
The Mind Garden – Gold Medal Winner
Image credit: RHS
Mindfulness planting ideas
There are a couple of elements we would suggest to have in your garden to make sure it is a place to escape to, unwind and take away the stress of the day to day.
Senses – there are many scents that are well-known for their relaxing qualities and you can easily bring them into your garden. Our top picks include Lavender, Chrysanthemum and Gerbera’s, these flowers not only smell lovely it will definitely add a wonderful sense of calm to your space.
Water – the sound of water can instantly relax you, so making space for a water feature or even making it a focal point would be a great option. Water will also encourage wildlife to visit your garden and what better way to relax, than soaking up the sun, listening to running water and watching a young bird have a drink.
Seating – The most important thing in any garden is to have a space to soak it all in. So, depending on your available space, a small bench or a large dining table could be just the spot to sit, take a breath and enjoy being in nature.
In amongst these top themes of the show, of course there were a few standout displays, especially in the Royal Pavilion tent. Also, with the Queens Jubilee fast approaching there were a few displays dedicated to celebrating this wonderful occasion too. Browse our snaps from the day below!
Container & Balcony Gardening
Last but not least is container and balcony gardening, something that stole last year’s show! This year was just the same, but with new gardeners taking centre stage that had discovered gardening during the lockdown.
Jason Williams aka The Cloud Gardener was one of these and at the show he recreated his balcony garden in Manchester. Complete with rose archways, brightly coloured balcony containers and pots which were filled with pollinator friendly and beautiful flowers.
He says “My balcony became an escape. It went from 1 marigold to a mini paradise.” What he soon learned is that balcony gardening has it challenges, whether it is a lack of sunlight or depending on the wind, plants can really get battered – so that meant Sunflowers were definitely off the list!
However, he started documenting his ups and downs through YouTube which also become a space for him to open up about mental health too. He said “The more I shared, the more I realised that my honesty resonated with people.” He was a complete novice and to now have a stand at Chelsea is something we can all be inspired by! Be sure to check out his youtube page and website for all the latest updates: https://cloudgardeneruk.co.uk/
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