Episode 4 Countdown to Chelsea

Of the Chelsea Flower Show, and they will tell you it is the highlight of

their year. For me, witnessing the gardens are they come to fruition

triggers a real sense of excitement. I have witnessed it for more than 20

years, both as a designer, and in front of the cameras, and it never

fails to delight. In this episode of Countdown To Chelsea, we take a look

back at some of the most imaginative and ingenious water features to

grace the show. There is even water rippling over my head as I speak. It

plays with light, texture and colour. Creating floral sculpture,

we meet one of the contenders for the hotly contested Florist Award.

And How Do Nurse E-mail And Women Massage Nature To Produce The

Perfectly Timed Specimen? In August, We Take The Bulbs Out And Put Them

Into A Temperature Controlled Store, To Make Them Think That It Is

Summer. And Then, Three Weeks Before Chelsea, We Put Them In The

Glasshouse we start praying in the hope that they are going to get

there. And the latest word is that installation artists are on site

today, putting up a display of glass bulbs containing plants. The scale

and ambition is so great, it has got everybody talking about it, but

nobody is quite sure if it is going to work. We will find out later. I

own horticultural passions were triggered by my grandparents, but it

was a local Worcester nursery man who galvanised my attention and

taught me the art of growing. Archie ran a family nursery, and thanks to

a chance encounter when I was looking for a Mother's Day gift,

Archie offered me a job at the tender age of 12. He soon spotted my

enthusiasm and I benefited from his wonderful generosity in imparting

information. For the last decade of his life, he never missed an

opportunity to nurture my interest, something I will always be grateful

for. I first visited Chelsea Flower Show 28 years ago, when I was a

horticultural student. In 1998, I designed my first garden here, a

nostalgic piece, based around the wartime years. That was also the

first year I won a Chelsea gold medal. Since then, and after more

than a dozen gold medals from here and around the world, there are

numerous high points for me. In 2012I worked with adult learners

with disabilities to build an exhibit raising awareness of their

historic teaching garden and their own extraordinary talents. The

garden harnessed unfashionable plants to remind gardeners of their

glamour and beauty. It was a wonderful privilege to work with

them, but it brought huge pressures on me to deliver. They propagated

plants for us, they came onto the garden and helped us plant and do

the roof, so they were fully integrated. So, to be able to say

this morning we have got a gold medal, it is really breathtaking.

Last year, I was able to work with Arthritis Research Uk to craft a

garden which highlighted this potentially crippling condition. It

touched the hearts and minds of viewers and visitors come a winning

another prestigious award. This year I am thrilled to be back

and not others is I know, but on this side of the camera, the perfect

vantage point to see what horticultural delights are being

delivered. I am about to explore Main Avenue to see how this year's

are shaping up and specifically to review one of the best tools in the

armoury of the designers, the water feature. Over the years, they have

changed hugely at Chelsea. Let's remind ourselves of some of the

wonderful watery delights. Tranquillity. Beauty. Majesty. These

creations have transfixed visitors and viewers alike.

Water in all its guises has long been a crowd-pleaser. In the

earliest days, the main show gardens were grouped around an area which

became known as Rock Garden Bank, at the edge of the site. The waterfall

was the first popular water feature. Generations of kings and queens

regularly admired them on their annual processions. Amat gardeners

love nothing more than a little bit of Chelsea outside their newly

erected conservatory. Gentle water features

erected conservatory. Gentle water to a garden. Newly opened garden

centres fed the burgeoning appetite for water features, with koi carp

filling ponds across Britain. By the 1970s, Chelsea saw the arrival of

more ambitious ideas, including 1970s, Chelsea saw the arrival of

provocative and exciting plans for the use of water. Each year,

designers have been the use of water. Each year,

create ever more extravagant and creative ideas. Here are two

remarkable examples from recent years. I saw

remarkable examples from recent when it was still under construction

and you knew when it was still under construction

very bold structure, but it is the cleanliness of the lines, the

very bold structure, but it is the shapes, the perfection in a free

detail. All the walls are planted with moss, and the water gives a

sense of space, but also a sense of a world beyond the garden.

sense of space, but also a sense of even water above my head as I speak.

It plays with light, texture and colour. But awareness of climate

change has signalled a new approach to the way water is used in our

gardens. Sustainable management of water is going to become much more

significant. I witnessed this at Chelsea recently. This garden is a

prime example of what can be done. A subtle adjustment of topography

encourages any rain water to flow through the planting beds, towards

the decorative reservoirs. What they have done here is to simulate the

roof line, the water drains through in aim traditional gut and downpipe,

into a water butt. But then, any overflow goes down into a reservoir.

When you want to irrigate, this is linked to a series of geometric

areas which are permeable. As the water flows down, it enters the

soil. This is an old technique, in fact, the very technique which was

employed by the ancient Egyptians, who took water from the river Nile

to feed the landscape. Water has long been celebrated for its

aesthetic appeal, but it is now being recognised as a valuable

resource. One of the most complex water

features this year is here on Main Avenue, designed by one of the

youngest designers here, Hugo Bugg. What is it you are trying to

achieve? When you enter the garden, you are actually walking over a

water cycle. On your left you have got storm water entering the garden.

On your right, there is a large pool of water, and then you step onto

this paved area, which reflects a global issue of water storage.

Within the garden, it is more about managing the storm water. And you

have a canopy of older trees. How does the way you are dealing with

water if from the conventional way we have treated it? In an urban

situation, most able's storm water goes down into the drainage systems,

but this garden disconnects that, allowing it to replicate nature and

filter slowly back into the ground water, removing the pressure on the

urban drainage systems. It sounds good in theory, but how much of a

challenge is it technically? It is so intricate. In this cracked earth

paving, we have got 10,000 individual

paving, we have got 10,000 together by hound. -- by hand. The

walkways have been made to a specific pattern, replicating the

water. They all linked together. And how are you feeling about it? Now, I

can see that it is looking really good and I am really excited. Good

luck and I look forward to seeing it. In fact, Hugo's Darden is a

contender for the People's Choice Award. That is a chance to take part

in deciding one big award which will be handed out at the end of the

flower show. Another potential recipient is first time Chelsea

designer Matthew Childs, who we have been following all week. He has been

showing us exactly what is involved. Today, we follow him as he

goes in search of the hard structures he is bringing to his

garden. Chelsea is fast approaching and we

have got lots of landscaping elements still to finalise - the

Arches in the garden, the sculpture, and one of the other key elements as

well. I have travelled hundreds of miles to north Wales to find the

boulders, which is a tip-off from my landscape expert. And I think this

might be the place. I am now going to go and meet Gordon, the stone

supplier. It is his job today to find us the perfect boulders in

these fields behind. I have two say, I was expecting to be coming to a

quarry, but we are in farmer's field. Basically, when they plough

the field, they are unearthing these glacial boulders. At one time they

would leave them and go around them, but now, they take them out of the

ground and they go into various landscaping projects. Like the

garden at Chelsea? Indeed. Most normal people go to garden centres

to find stone for their gardens, but we are going to extraordinary

lengths because we need stone which looks like it has been around for a

while. We also want it to come from a sustainable source, where it is a

waste material which needs a new home. I think we have got just

perfect for your water feature. That is fantastic. It has got all of this

moss and lichen on here which is what I want. It is the right size.

Ideally, we are looking for about 1.3 metres by about 700. This

boulder is absolutely perfect for a spot act the back of the garden. It

is a slightly different shape and size to what I had in my head, but

you have got to be flexible. I think it will work. I think we are going

to go for it. Good. One down, three to go. I know that Gordon and his

team will be able to find others, so, back to London to have a look at

the archways, and see how they are getting on with the copper on

those. And also, the sculpture. preparation for the garden but I

think that a certain amount of adrenaline is good. That's what I

have been told. We are on our way to make arches for the garden.

Here they make all kinds of amazing props for the theatre and the film

industry. Hi there! Good to see you. I can see

that my art has not shrunk since the last time I saw you? No.

This is the copper cladding for the structure? This is for that top of

the arch. You can see how it works with the patinatition and colours.

I am impressed with you, how you have managed to foldt and keep it

patinated. That is the first meeting. It went

well. Really happy with the air copper arches. The pat nation will

be fantastic. So, on to the sculpture in Battersea with Peter.

Peter's been working on it since September. I have not seen it yet.

So it will be almost finished. Really exciting.

Hey, Matthew, hi. Good to see you. Good to see you.

I am eager to see Tranquility in her finished form.

I hope you approve. I'm sure I will. That looks

absolutely beautiful. The pool of metal, like a drop of water. That is

fantastic. I think it works.

I am bog coy not wanting to show the sculpture at the moment. Just

because, with the show garden it is part of the magic for

because, with the show garden it is to come to the show to see all of

these new things. It is a brand new experience. It keep it is fresh. So

we are keeping this a surprise for the big reveal at the show itself.

Thank you very much. Cheers, thank you.

Here are some of the hard landscaping structures taking shape.

Here are some of the hard Matthew, they are going in. Does it

look how you envisaged? Is it relating back to the original

design? I am pleased to say that the picture I have been living with for

months has been taking shapes. That is great. It is what you are aiming

for. To have the image on site. So starting to take shape with the

elements coming together. The arches work as a pair framing

sections of the garden? Yes. It is so nice to see them in the garden.

When you see them on their own in a workshop, you think, what are you

doing? So with the copper arches, I now feel look right in the space.

Also they divide up the space, giving me different rooms and the

views through to Tranquility, down to the rest of the garden.

The views through with the birch through in front which is masked and

then obviously the boulders that came from North Wales.

How was it shifting huge amounts of stone? They all have that

presentable face. You have to get it right? It was a slightly tense day

yesterday, trying to shift the really, really heavy elements in the

garden. But as you say, they have lovely aspects, the moss and the

liken. So you want to show that. But lots of shifting around and they are

in place from North Wales to Chelsea, to here it is just a shame

that they are so heavy. What about the sculpture, I notice

she is very coyly hidden here? Are you waiting until the end of the

week? We will give it until the end of the week to say here is the

reveal. It has been so long in the making. It will be nice to keep it a

secret. Now, developing ideas, when the standards are so high, it can be

a challenge. In previous programmes we showed how the designers came up

with their approaches. We are looking back to 2011, when Nigel

Dunnett, visited Grave of the Unknown Warrior, in search of

separation for his Chelsea design. -- Gravetye Manor.

It is important to visit the gardens at Gravetye Manor but this is

special. In Chelsea, we are trying to not copy but to capture the

spirit and the ideas of the garden. I feel that a real living link, if

you like, is here. I feel the presence of Robinson all around me.

William Robinson was a Victorian horticulturalist. He had a big

influence on British gardening. He started from humble beginnings,

growing up in Ireland. He was born in April, 1848, spending his early

years up until he was 20, as a jobbing gardener. He wrote many

books but the one that we know the most is the Wild Garden. It

encompassed a lot of his themes. Foremost of which was hardy plants.

He wanted to grow plants that were really tough and survive on their

own. But more than that, as he loved seeing plants in the wild and in

their natural setting, he very much replicated that in the garden.

That is a wonderful thing. We have these beautiful wild flowers here,

growing up amongst the native wild flowers, the Speed the Butterwell,

cups. Here they are flourishing. But they are pepped up, in halves, set

off by the white Cammercias. It is a balance of what we have and what to

add to it to really set it off. We are here in William Robinson's

wild garden, a place where he spent many of his

wild garden, a place where he spent trying out ideas it is a real test

bad. They pocket hander chief tree is one he planted. It is from China.

But it is combined with many others from around the world, so I can see

azaleas, and rhododendrons amongst the native wild flowers and ferns.

This is what he loved. Setting the plants within our own wild flowers

in places where they look like they have been here forever. It is a

contrast with the horticultural world he saw around him. All about

the huge amounts of efforts, and here it pretty much looks after

itself. The work and the ideas of William

Robinson, although they are Victorian and 150 years on, they are

as relevant now as then. Even more so. I think that you have to

remember the person who started that all out.

That same theme of naturalistic planting is one of the hallmarks of

my in connection two guests, soon soon soon for their Himalayan Rock

Garden. Built up here in the Fresh Gardens area. Tell me about the

design. Well, the Himalayan Rock Garden, the

him Leah are six different countries. We wanted to make a

collage to connect the amazing flora and fauna. So there are different

elements, the star planters, the water tower, the pavilion. So what

we are hoping is that it will be a tapestry of colours and ideas.

How are you interpreting the naturalistic theme? The way we work

with the planting, it is broken into two halves. It is naturalistic, as

James mentioned, we also have the motifs penulted by Marigolds, often

used in Indian gardens, so naturalistic but with a quirky

theme. How is the build going? I don't want

to tempt feat but really well. The most amazing thing is seeing the

plan coming to fruition. The sun is out. We had a tricky couple of first

days. Concrete in the ground but it is mainly going to plan.

We designed it and drew it, now the plan is turning into a reality. But

it is going in the right direction. So, quietly confident! It sounds

fantastic. Good luck to you both. Thank you. . Thank you.

You remember a little earlier, I was tempting you with tales of

installation art ises, hanging bulbs and sculptures and filling them with

plant material, well, this is it. The I installation artists, you can

just about see their feet on the gantry there. There are no sign of

bulbs or sculptures. The progress, I think, it is fair to say it is slow!

Here in the Great Pavilion, they are to welcome the menners inrimen and

women to display their blooms next week. Also with them are the judges

for contending in the Floral Arranging medals. One of the most

keen recontested. The florists that bring their florals. The challenge

to make a floral ball gown. We have been following a contender, Sarah

Barrow as she got ready for her challenge.

I love being surrounded by fresh flowers. The colour hits you

immediately. I am like a child in a sweetie shop. There is so

immediately. I am like a child in a choice. I just love putting flowers

together. This is my favourite bit. When you have all of the flowers

ready, and you can start to put it together. I am making a gorgeous

bouquet you know that they will be thrilled to have. It will brighten

up their day. Florists have the best job in the world, we can bring cheer

to people that need it. My whole life, I have always dabbled

in different things and felt, what am I doing? Finding floristry was a

real passion. The seeds for my passion really

started from when I was really tiny. My mum had a beautiful garden.

I remember mum being in the garden all of the time. I always played

with flowers. I used to watch mum doing the flowers. Every opportunity

I would try to do something with flowers.

I was opening a tearoom. I knew a little tiny tearoom in the middle of

nowhere needed something else. I had a light bulb moment and thought, I

know, I will be a florist. I applied to the local agriculture college, I

asked hem to help it all started from there.

This one is quite a natural bouquet. Look at the different colours and

the textures going through here. The lime green is really bringing the

piece alive. I am a real perfectionist in my work. Everything

has to be just so... I don't always know what that is but when I have

done it, I know I am happy with it. know what that is but when I have

I graduated in 2011. The same year, the same May, I had gotten through

to the RHS Chelsea finals of the UK Florist of the Year competition. It

was unbelievable. The first year we had to make a jockey silk. That

combined my life in one piece. The tailors I learned in my early

with my floristry. Was extraordinary. We were watching

the Chelsea programmes on the Monday night, and twitch Tichmarsh saying

"here we are at Chelsea, gardeners striving for years to get here... "

it dawned on me then what a big deal it was. Then I got a silver medal.

That was amazing. It was incredible.

That was amazing. This year we have to make a fantasy

floral dress to be worn at a crystal-themed ball. It is daunting.

It is a very big task to do a whole dress out of flowers.

It is a very big task to do a whole On my dress, I am going to include a

lot of different techniques and materials. I have to make a

structure, so I have to make a dress and then cover it with flowers. But

I have to work out what flowers to buy and what goes with what. I

cannot touch the flowers until the Monday of Chelsea week. They need to

be fresh in. I need to condition them. Then I can build the structure

with the flowers. I would like to use spray roses, peonies, maybe

orchids, maybe not too mad, as they have have been seen a lot. Maybe

Clematis. It could all be put on in the middle of the night on Wednesday

night it is an evolving thing. Until I start to build the dress, I am not

sure which way it will go. The worst thing about Chelsea is waiting for

the results on the Result Day. We are all competing. We all become

friends. I hate waiting for the results. On top of that, the public

are looking at you. You are feeling sick with nerves. It is just the

most gut-wrenching moment. I hate it. Obviously, I am hoping for a

medal! I would love a Gold Medal! I will not lie. I would be absolutely

ex-tatic. But 23 if I don't get to win a medal, I don't care. -- don't

care. I have been to Chelsea three times. How amazing is that.

Now we welcome a familiar face to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

coverage, Nicky Chapman. Hello. I am so excited, I have never

been here for the build-up. Normally when I come here it is practically

finished. To be here at this stage, the plants and the flowers have not

even arrived. Yes, you get a sense of how this show is being staged,

but of course, it is the flowers, you are a bit of a connoisseur. You

are being very kind, I am my floral arrangements and designs are

encouraging, every year they get a little bit at. But I am looking

forward to plenty of floral displays, and I will be getting some

tips. Every year I am getting better. By the end of the week, you

will be an expert. What do you think is so special about Chelsea? We are

all passionate about our gardens, but you do not have too have a

garden to appreciate what Chelsea stands for. It is the catwalk, we

get inspiration, and coming through, I felt my heart quicken. To see it

behind the scenes, it is like being in the dressing room. This is

everything that you never see. They are creating, aren't they? Already,

the gardens are beginning to form, so by the end of the week, we will

be nearly there. It will be perfection personified, I am hoping.

I hope so, because it opens on Monday. Nicky and Andy Sturgeon will

be presenting our afternoon coverage next week in this time slot. But it

is not just the designers and exhibitors who are feeling the

pressure, the team who are putting the whole event together are really

up against it. Today, in the Chelsea Champions Spot, we are turning our

attention to the person who is in charge of all the catering. I am in

charge of the catering here at Chelsea Flower Show. I am

responsible for providing food and drink for the 168,000 visitors who

will be here jeering the week. We have three on-site restaurants,

three public food courts, as well as looking after the exhibitors, and

the RHS. We sell more than 70,000 tea and coffee, 120,000 cakes,

13,000 sandwiches, as well as 15,000 glasses of champagne and more than

45,000 canap?s throughout the showground. Today is really exciting

because this is where everything starts for us. The full team is on

site. We can see everything coming together, all of our planning, it is

quite refreshing. To see the stuff you have ordered. We are gradually

moving around the site making sure everything is in the place that it

should be in. It is a ten day build moving into the show week. We will

have more than 550 staff a day working at the show. Everything that

is here, everything you see, has been ordered specifically for the

show. Making sure there is power, working sure there is gas, enough

space to move around. It is all carefully planned. This is the

Brockbank Restaurant, with views across the showground. We will

accommodate 1000 lunches on the first day of show week in this area.

Looking a bit empty at the moment! We are getting all of our heavy kick

in the kitchen, the ovens are in place, we need to get that in early.

We have got 20 or so pallets of equipment arriving today. All of our

cutlery and China and glassware has arrived, we are just unpacking

those, and checking it all off to make sure everything is here. The

brandy glasses, they are for the bar, thank you. Our executive head

chef plans all of the menus, he works with his team of 55 chefs. Ben

is very passionate about his food. In the Chelsea week we do about 3004

course meals, plus 60,000 canapes on average. Chelsea is very special, it

is the start of the summer social season. We are watching the weather

forecast in the lead up, gauging what the weather is going to be. It

has a huge impact. Hot drink sales, cold drink sales, depending on the

temperature outside. Our planning for next year starts now. As soon as

the show finishes, we are already planning for next year. You get so

excited about picking it up again, and all the things you are going to

do, all the things you are going to improve for future years. It is in

my blood and I love being here. Good luck to Julianne 13 over the next

week. Quite often, the challenge for growers coming to Chelsea lies in

mass arching nature to bring plants and rumours to the show which are

not normally in flower in May. For some, it is a case of advancing

growth, but it happens in reverse as well, where plants have naturally

gone over, but are still needed at their best. That is the challenge

for daffodil grower Johnnie Walker, whom we visited back in 2008. I love

to be out here early in the morning. They are looking particularly fresh

then. Every variety has got something particular about it which

you enjoy. I think my earliest memory is probably about five or six

years old, going to the nursery with my father, and then, when I was ten

years old, my father took me to Holland. From then on, it was bulbs

all the way. My father came over in the early 1930s, during the

depression in Holland. Everybody where he came from was involved in

bold growing. He said, I will go to England, learn the language and see

what I can find out there. Lincolnshire was a very big county,

and this particular part of it was called South Holland. It is a very

good silt soil, retaining moisture, well drained. It is ideal for

daffodils, the best in the country, really. Of course, most people think

of daffodils as yellow, partly because of the golden daffodils of

Wordsworth. And then they think of Narcissus as the white and red. But

technically, they are all the same genus. I grow somewhere in the

region of 400 varieties. I cannot be specific, I lose count now and

again. It is always difficult when people ask me which my it depends on

which one I am picking. Everyone has got its merits. One of my favourites

always is this one, it is a lovely, deep orange, and put that in front

of an evergreen holly, it looks as though the place is on fire, it is

superb. Producing daffodils for Chelsea at the end of May is very,

very difficult. I do not know what possessed me ever to spend my time

trying to beat nature in the way that we do. So, what we do, in

August, we pick the bulbs out and put them intoam project controls

store, at 20 Celsius. This makes them think that it is some, so they

do not start growing. And then, straight after Christmas, we plugged

them into trays, with some compost straight after Christmas, we plugged

at the bottom, then they come into the cold store, which is the

equivalent of winter. Then, three weeks before Chelsea, we put them in

the glasshouse, we start praying, in weeks before Chelsea, we put them in

there. This one has not got many shoots on it, I am a bit worried

there. This one has not got many about this variety. When we look at

this one, there about this variety. When we look at

once they get into a bit of sunshine in the glasshouse, they will go like

rockets, with a bit of luck. The wonderful thing about Chelsea is

that lots of people come and talk to you, they want to know about

daffodils, you can share your knowledge, and I am just passionate

about daffodils, they are a wonderful flower.

Well, Johnnie Walker will be back again showing off his daffodils next

week. Full coverage of the whole event will be on BBC television

across each day throughout the week. I am very much looking forward to

being a part of the team to bring you Chelsea 2014. But will it be a

vintage year? Only time will tell. If I was picking my favourites from

the past, which would I choose? It is really tricky. But here are three

of my highlights. This design from 1990, by Arabella

Lennox Boyd, was a quintessentially English style, with a reserved and

considered theatrical piece. Although many plants are not native

to England, many have been adopted as essential ingredients.

Architecture, stone art and landscape became harmonious in a

delightful balance. This was 2004, a garden from Dan Persons. It was

thought-provoking. It exempt five the work of a gardener content with

a subtle narrative. I wanted to go into the landscape and use that as

the inspiration, so that people could think about the landscape. It

is something which is constantly being eroded in this country. Nature

and artificial inclusions were seamlessly blended. The eye was

massaged throughout the scheme. And my final choice, from 2005, the

English gentleman of the show, the guardian of Julian Dowel, who

captured the energy, spirit and accuracy of nature with such success

that his garden convinced asked the entire show was constructed around

it. For some, the skills involved went unnoticed, but for those who

admire the minute details of gardening, this was a work of beauty

and joy. That is just about it for today. I wish all the designers and

exhibitors well, and I cannot wait to see the conclusion of their works

over the next week. Tomorrow, Carol Klein will be here with her own

Countdown To Chelsea. I hope you can join her. For now, goodbye.

# Slowdown, you move too fast. # You've got to make the moment

last. # Feeling groovy!

# Hello, lamp post, I've come to watch your flowers growing.

# Feeling groovy! # I've got no promises to keep.

# A new era blooms

at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with a fresh crop of exciting

young designers.