Everything's coming up roses

With the RHS Chelsea Flower Show wrapped up for another year, we look back at some of the hottest garden trends from the 2024 programme.

One theme we’re particularly fond of this year is the kitchen garden - giving you access to fresh produce, herbs and edible plants which can be enjoyed straight after harvesting. Popular at luxury country hotels such as Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, this type of gardening allows you to grow and eat uncommon heirloom varieties of herbs, fruits, and vegetables that may not be readily available at your local grocery store or farmer’s market.

Designers at Chelsea this year have made the most of edible ornaments, maximizing their space while enjoying beautiful floral landscaping. Featuring 100% edible plants, the Planet Good Earth Garden by Betongpark & Urban Organic turned their garden into RHS Chelsea’s first edible skate park with a two-tonne granite skate ramp nestled amongst its planting.?Taking another new approach to 'grow your own', the Bowel Research UK Microbiome Garden by Sid Hill and Chris Hull championed growing for gut health, offering a probiotic feast in the form of an edible wildflower meadow. Sweet dock, lupins, and camassia feature heavily for their gut positive qualities as the garden explores the connection between soil health, plant life, and the human microbiome.

If you are designing, updating or re-styling your garden area this year, make sure to incorporate wildlife habitats into your planning to encourage extra company in your garden while giving back to the local wildlife community. At Chelsea this year, we have seen these as little pockets of habitation such as bird nesting boxes, bug hotels, and hedgehog highways that double up as stylistic features while welcoming insect or mammal habitats. Habitats could also take the shape of widely popular natural swimming pools. More aesthetically pleasing than their blue tiled counterparts, they have the added bonus of encouraging wildlife and rely on?natural?biological filtration rather than chemicals.

Finally, we couldn’t talk about Chelsea Flower Show without mentioning our friends Blue Forest, Lucinda Sanford and Randle Siddeley, whose botanical treehouse won the Best Trade Stand medal. The focal point of the structure was a magnificent entertainment tower, which offered guests a space to relax and enjoy the view across Main Avenue, whilst sipping on a botanical cocktail from the adjacent outdoor gin bar. We were delighted to see our clients Sub-Zero & Wolf UK featured too, with their fantastic stainless steel BBQ which is always the hub of any outdoor dining space.

Another fantastic year full of inspiring designs and stunning wildlife, we're already looking forward to seeing what next year's show brings.