What we learnt Trends from this year's Chelsea

Designers looked to climate-resilient plants, natural materials and places of sanctuary, says HANNAH STEPHENSON

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CLIMATE-RESILIENT gardens, Mediterranean-style planting and a focus on making your outdoor space a sanctuary are all trends that gardeners will take away with them from this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, experts are predicting.

The importance of local artisans and sustainable building materials such as rustic timber and mycelium walls (formed in one show garden from recycled waste material from previous RHS show gardens) were among the highlights, as designers moved away from using concrete in hard landscaping.

Jo Thompson, who designed The Glasshouse Garden, reckons plants, rather than hard landscaping, will become the stars of the show, as gardeners move towards more planting.

"We shouldn't be using too much hard landscaping. If you can, use trees and shrubs as architecture and structure."

Smaller show gardens continued to gain momentum, to inspire people who might just have a balcony or a small urban plot.

Some of the main trends at this year’s show included:

CLIMATE RESILIENCE

Designs this year looked to wild, often harsh landscapes and much planting was selected for its resilience to changing climates.

Drought-tolerant shrubs including cistus and rosemary, and aromatic silver-leafed plants such as santolina and artemisia were in focus although choosing plants which can adapt to erratic weather were highlighted.

BBC Gardeners' World presenter Monty Don, who designed The RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden, says: “We are all dealing with climate change.

“And I think that whether it’s this Chelsea, or whether it’s just gardening in general, we are having to adapt to very wet winters and then dry periods, and also some pretty wet summers too. So it’s erratic.

“The good news is plants are proving more adaptable than we thought, the bad news is you can’t expect a plant that thrives in hot dry conditions to spend all winter with its roots in water. So we're having to react to that.”