Chelsea thoughts?

[CountingCrones]

I enjoy the annual coverage, watching trends develop, seeing new plants and planting combinations.

Although I understand austerity is the reason, radical reduction in the number of show gardens is a shame as a viewer. I love to see them.

I particularly like the timber benches and masses of colour in The Octavia Hill Garden. The garden built to handle floods and heavy rains was another very striking idea.

Anyone else’s impressions? Any lucky souls visiting it?

the flowers used again and again at the Chelsea gardens are all similar.
I heard someone explain "this year's trendy Chelsea plant". As we all know you are at the mercy of the elements with gardening, and the professionals are no exception. I don't know if they have better Plan B these days but there used to be plant suppliers who would turn up with a container-load of the same plant which they would flog to any designer who had a last-minute gaping hole that needed filling. The punters saw it in repeated gardens and thought it was "this year's fashionable thing" but the real reason was a bit more humdrum than that.
With the awful spring we had this year, perhaps there were limited plants to choose from at Chelsea-time.

The house plants were the usual too though available for purchase in lkea and supermarkets, no real excuse there for plants not being available. It just felt a bit too ordinary.

I don’t know, I’ve got glorious kniphofias that have been going on for months, the bananas are growing well, the fatsias and ferns are glorious, i don’t think it’s beyond the wit of woman to have a show garden with big leaves and splashes of orange/yellow. They are all playing it so safe with the whites and blues.

The balcony with the ferns was splendid, but how many balcony dwellers will spend £1000+ on tree ferns? It is such a cop out - throw a lot of money at it and your garden (balcony) will be eye catching. Whereas you can get cheap palms, nurture them for a few years and get a similar effect.

lf you’re going to be making a big song and dance about sustainability, then affordability should surely also feature.

There was a water feature display that was amazing for a balcony garden but looking at it there was no way it was suitable for a balcony - the weight, the water, the construction- it just felt like the designer created something for the size (successfully) the space not so much - better appreciated being suspended in mid air - the occupiers would see nothing.
and who would leave their kids in a kids only garden with deep water - not anyone with small kids!!!

lf you’re going to be making a big song and dance about sustainability, then affordability should surely also feature.
Absolutely. Ideally you should be getting cutting and seeds from friends and family. But that's not what the garden industry wants, is it.

Chelsea is an annual thing for me, and I absolutely do not fork out god knows how much to see realistic gardens like mine. I want a bit of design, inspiration, aspiration and fantasy. I also want gardens to be designed to be appreciated by us riffraff who can only admire from round the edges. And I get pissed off being lectured on sustainable gardening by people who weren’t born when I went organic.

I felt this year there was a lot of very samey stuff - wispy tasteful pale blue and yellow planting. I did love the water aid garden, and quite a few of the smaller ones. The balcony and container gardens were mostly delightful as usual, although they did stretch the brief.

When you are there I find it’s much more about plants and individual bits and bobs (and enticing tat) than about the gardens and designs; the telly can’t really get that across.

We went for the first time on Thursday- we got free tickets and I would have been annoyed if I had paid as it was so unbelievably rammed, you couldn't get anywhere near most of the show gardens after about 10.30. Maybe the members days were better.

Having said that I did enjoy the drought garden and the flood garden- and absolutely loved the one built in the margins of the skatepark- it seemed like an achievable community project and importantly, edible. Managed to crane our heads into the forest bathing one, and I'm a big silver birch fan so liked that a lot actually even if Monty loathed it.

Some of the smaller stalls were great- there was one with an unusual range of grasses and a lovely little herb garden. Also liked the apocalyptic houseplant shed, not very on brand for Chelsea and DP very taken with the 70s disco shed (agree the plants were quite run of the mill but the houseplant thing has exploded so much we've been exposed to loads of new varieties in the last 10 years which now seem pedestrian). I agree about a terrace category, or an allotment one (allotments aren't posh though are they?)- although the balcony category had ideas that would transfer to a terrace quite nicely.

On another note, I had no idea there were so many companies selling really hideous expensive statues for gardens.

forest bathing is a new trendy thing - everywhere with trees is doing it and it's basically a woodland walk remarketed for Gen Z.
you listen to the trees, touch the bark, appreciate the litter layer and hand over £30!

I think this might be the reason this garden won Best in Show plus they did not want another middle aged man called Tom winning - i think this is what Monty was alluding to...

I'm watching on player and enjoying seeing all the beautiful plants but not finding it very useful or inspirational. Am fast forwarding the repetitive bits about house plants, flower arranging, vegetable growing in a small space etc

Thought the balcony garden was totally unrealistic, who would want to cram that many plants into such a small space?

Agree with pp would love to see ideas for the typical long narrow terraced house garden.

I enjoy the coverage and haven’t been for years as it is so busy inside. I do wonder if monty has early dementia or just simply old age as he isn’t as sharp as he once was. Joe is very good to keep the positive tone going. Agree the gardens are now quite samey.

I'd never heard of forest bathing before and it took me a while to realise it wasn't about making a forest garden with a pond you could swim in😕

I'm an orienteer so spend a lot of time in woods. You can go to an orienteering event and get a map and get in to the heart of the wood looking for controls and seeing wildlife ( often deer in Scotland) for less than you pay for an organised short walk. I think walking and running and looking for wildlife is good for you but forest walks are a con

Forest bathing I meant not forest walks

I've been forest bathing for years without realising it. Daily wandering through the woods with dog, listening to birds . watching squirrels and seeing the seasons change.

@Macramepotholder ah yes the hideous statues! Was the monstrous horse sculpture still there this year, and the dolphins? I must have seen those at least half a dozen times. Perfect if you want to style your garden in the ‘junior dictator’ style.

I do have greenhouse envy though when I see the ones on display.

I usually go see the flower arrangements (Japanese style) for a bit of light relief, as most of them look utterly ridiculous.

Still it’s good fun especially on member days when it’s a little less crowded.

There was an alarmingly huge dragon water feature which was breathing smoke. Really tasteful 😂

I think the giant dragon would be excellent if you were 8. There was a huge Elk. Lots of rabbits weirdly.

I loved the mad flower arranging! One of them just appeared to be a big chard?

Think the Japanese may have something to say about you saying it’s a new trendy thing ! Maybe over here it is but it’s an ancient practice known as shinrin yoku in Japan !

Probably it doesn’t count unless somebody has told you to breathe in and out and tinged a bell at you. And charged you fifty quid

Monty has been quite open for many years about his mental and physical health issues. He is also naturally quite blunt I think. He’s entitled to his views, I’m all for free speech. It would be a shame if he had to self censor. The whole of Chelsea is already an infomercial, a bit of critical thinking doesn’t hurt.

@Koulibiak the bbc coverage is so light and fluffy I find Monty doesn't sit well with that, but I would love a more serious show where Monty and others could be more critical in reviewing the show gardens in more depth, and proper interviews with the participants etc

I have given up watching it - the coverage is so crass and gimmicky, and some of the gardens too contrived. I'd rather take a stroll in my garden.

In Scotland we don't need flood resistant gardens! You see the SeE England bias in Chelsea

I mean drought resistant

I do worry about the trees at Chelsea. Trees have large roots. Are these trees just disposed of after Chelsea as their roots have been destroyed to transport them?