Kim Stoddart talks rain gardens, resilient plants and some of the really cool ideas from RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Ican remember, almost a decade ago, interviewing many of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden designers for the Guardian newspaper. I used to like walking around the showground on the Sunday before it opened, as the designers prepared their work for judging, and seeing the gardens quietly at a gentler pace.
It’s fascinating to see the behind-thescenes final primp and polishing stage, the relative calm before the excitable storm of press day and the flurry of the crowds that descend during the following week. I remember one year trying to see which non-traditional, or slightly naughty gardening practices the designers would reveal they secretly employed at home when no one was looking. Less controlled time- or money-saving hacks, weed growing or rule-breaking practices and the like as a stark but refreshing contrast to the grand show that has long been RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
I got some interesting snippets, some designers were a little taken-aback at my questioning, while the likes of Adam Frost, Dan Pearson and Alan Gardner generously offered good-spirited and useful ideas.
Our lovely magazine has previously been more than a little sceptical of the display in years gone by, arguing how little it offered for ‘real’ people and gardening on the ground. Times are changing and the 2023 show featured weeds and wildlife, while this year has a focus on sustainability, money-saving ideas and wellbeing for all. In my view, there is much to admire and learn from this year, to take onwards into a more sustainable, forward-thinking future.
Rain gardens
As regular readers of my writing will be aware, I’ve had frontline experiences with water. My gardens flooded, and were under water, for a good few weeks nearly a decade ago. In more recent years my private water supply (a well) has run so dry in summer there has been no water at all coming out the household taps at times. As a result there are many defences I have employed to conserve and contain water throughout the year.
From slowing, spreading and sinking an excess of rain out of harm’s way with swales, berms and rills, to allowing wild plants like rushes to grow between trees in an area that was previously prone to winter flood, there is a lot you can do easily and effectively to help slow the flow and build resilience in a relatively low-cost way.
Some of the highlights when it comes to water resilience at RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year include the Water Aid Garden, which features a rainwater harvesting pavilion; the National Society Garden with its waterfall roof which feeds into a swale, and the Water Saving Garden with rain water harvesting displays by Affinity Water. There is also a Flood Res
