I can’t remember a year when there was so much great advice and ideas at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. This year, anyone looking for ideas and inspiration can’t fail to go home with a virtual folder of great ways to save money, recycle, garden more environmentally and support our garden wildlife. Some gardens at this year’s show have that sole purpose in mind, a treasure trove of advice to help everyone get the best from their plot, like the RHS Resilient Garden, designed by Tom Massey, highlighting how our gardens can be more adaptable in a warming climate and more resilient in the face of extreme weather. But there are other very creative touches around the showground that are easy to adopt and repeat at home in your own garden.
Gabion Wildlife Shelters
Creating sheltering spots for our precious wildlife can seem a tall order in a small plot, so I thought this seat supported by gabions packed with nesting material was a great idea. You could fill the cages with rocks or stones or other recycled material to offer creatures somewhere safe to roost, nest or overwinter safely.
Featured on the Alitex stand at 257
Living Centrepiece
Fresh flowers in a vase don’t always work well outside, so why not choose a pretty planter filled with a herb or feature plant and use that as a table centrepiece. It’s less likely to blow over in windy weather and can even become part of a summer lunch feast if it’s a herb or an edible. Or why not make herbal tea from freshly picked leaves?
Featured on the Alitex stand at 257
Plastic Fantastic
There were so many great ideas on the Plastic Fantastic Show Garden designed by Hana Leonard. I loved the lamp shade flower pots and the woven flowers made from carrier bags made into embroidered designs on the chain link fence. Plastic Fantastic offers so many imaginative solutions and ideas to upcycle plastic waste into a series of functional and aesthetic features. But the one that really resonated was the clever use of stacks of flower pots as a living boundary. Pots of the same size and colours were stacked up inside wire frames that supported them and then the top pot is planted so that the plants are higher and soften the top of the boundary.
Chest of drawers
Another garden stacked out with great ideas to take home was the RHS & BBC Morning Live Budget-Friendly Garden, designed by Mark Lane (266). I loved the outdoor water supply, tap, sink and bucket arrangement, such a simple way to add an outdoor washing station with little outlay. But it was the planted chest of drawers that really was the focal point of this garden. It’s quite a nice-looking piece of furniture and probably an old one, and perhaps that means it is well-made and less likely to disintegrate after a rain shower. I’d probably plant it with salads and herbs so you’d have an edible cabinet, but I love the idea.
Plant Mugs
You’ve heard of Cuppa Soups, now meet Mug Plants! I thought this was an interesting way to make use of a vertical surface easily. It’s pretty unlikely that you will have dozens of the same style of cup or mug, but there’s no reason that you can’t use any mugs and cups that are kicking around the kitchen unused. Simply fix some cup hooks to the wall or fence, plant up your mugs and hang them up. It’s a perfect idea for herbs and salads and could be the start of an edible vertical planting. You do need to remember to make sure that the compost does not become waterlogged by tipping out excess water after rain.
This would work really well on a balcony where growing space could be limited and would also work with jugs or any other container with a handle.
Featured on RHS & BBC Morning Live Budget-Friendly Garden, designed by Mark Lane 266
NB. The numbers denote the site position at the Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2023.
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