Episode 9 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

gardeners permission to relax. After years of tailing and

cultivating it's time to give our garden as bit of slack and welcome

back a touch of the world. Many exhibitors are showing a natural

decide of garden, we are showing off Britain's bountiful wildlife.

Coming up, Adam Frost follows in the footsteps of poet John Clare,

the inspiration behindlies 2012 show garden. When you get away from

the roads and people and the peace and just that connection with

nature, how do you encans late that in a garden? Wild about Mary -

cookery writer and judge Mary Berry introduces us to her passion,

gardening. These have culture a wonderful scent. Stunning self-

seeders, Carol Klein seeks out the Great Pavilion flowers that need no

help in spreading. Hello and welcome to the RHS

Chelsea Flower Show. Tonight the plants of Chelsea take centre stage,

particularly those that provide a vital wildlife Lorder. The plight

of our poinating insects has become a cause of constant concern in

recent years, so tonight we provide a guide to the flowers they favour

which we can all grow in our gardens. Understand this regal year

I'm not sure that crown will fit the bill. But it is fun. Old Bexley

Floral Arrangement Society, a family effort apparently. It is

lined with roses. And the leaves on the cushion are skeletonised.

didn't notice the leaves on the cushion. That's beautiful. It's a

lovely piece of work. It wouldn't attract much wildlife, which is

what we are concentrating on today. Plants with nectar is the thing.

is. It is staggering just how much of our native wild flower meadow

has been lost. Since 1930, 97% of our wild flower meadows in England

and Wales have gone. And that, it is just extraordinary. And the

great thing act insect and wildlife in general is they are opportunists

and if we put them there, they come. They are still there. All you have

to do is create a bit of your own and off you go. It is not just

about native flower species. The exotics can supplement them in some

circumstances. Any flowers with nectar and pollen are good. One

designer celebrating the beauty of the unspoilt countryside is Adam

Frost. His garden is in Northampton share. He walks the peasant walks

of John Clare. Adam's been soaking up the atmosphere of Clare's home

in the village of Helston as part of his research.

I was inspired not only by John Clare's poetry but more by we've

got these five or six well known local walks. It is this diverse

countryside. That's I think what inspired me.

Sweet tiny flower of darkly hue, lone dweller in the pathless shade.

How much I love thy pensive blue of so beautiful, it lifts the spirits

doesn't it? Even today, absolutely pouring down but there is something

so calm and peaceful about this place. It's the colours. It's the

uprights. It's the, it's the leaving the field and going into

the and wood. A change of atmosphere. Your head spins and

there's all sorts of ideas that come out of something so simple as

a wood with bluebells. John Clare lived just down the road from here,

so as a kid I think he would have come up into these woods and played.

I've brought my children up here. We walked in the bottom end of this

wood. You more or less come to the beech trees and it is a sea of

bluebells with little white amen mis.

-- athen mis. I love the way these canopys of

beech trees are stunning. They create the dappled shade which is

lovely. They lead down to these strong stems of the beech. At

Chelsea I think I will replace the beech with the hornbeam. The stems

are slightly greyer but you are going to get that lovely feathery

feel and soft texture. At Chelsea what I want to do along the back of

the garden is create an Avenue along the back. But as you leave

the Avenue and drift back into the garden you will get that change of

light as if you were coming to the edge of a wood. And then you escape

into the field and hopefully that's what I'm trying to achieve it it is

all about atmosphere. There are so many plants which grow

natively in our country that we can use in our gardens. At Chelsea like

the bluebells, though I can't use these because they'll be long gone,

there is things like campanulas, digitalis, ferns. All the things

that grow wildly but we can use them to capture a bit of this

atmosphere in my Chelsea garden. What I want people to do the, when

they come to Chelsea and they see this planting that's native driven,

I want people to realise that that is what they've got outside their

back door. I want people to open their gate, go out in the

countryside and explore. And maybe explain to their kids how important

of your hornbeam alley. It has really worked. This is woodland

fraying out. This was the feel I was trying to achieve. When your

eyes adapt to the wood and you come into the open space down to the

brook. Down to the dyke. But you've adapted it into a garden. You've

given the gardener some pleasure, a champagne cooler in the stone wall!

There's condensation on bottle the cool wall. We'll open one.

like this, underneath this robust oak shelter a roof of clover.

Inspired by one of his poems, but in reality you could do that.

Compost it once a year. Even your accoutrements like your barbecue

have become a fire pit. It is about a space that people can use. Though

it is inspired by those walks it is bringing it home. Nature is outside

your back door. The countryside come stpwoos the garden. That is

our connection with nature isn't it, outside our back door for most of

us, or it should be. You've formalised the brook with this

wonderful stone edging and dirty great boulders. You know when you

are walking out and suddenly you come into a stream and you find

something to get that step over. Gardens like this are important

wildlife corridors, like country hedgerows, leading wildlife on.

Exactly. And we should have more all the time. Again, you think

about the whole thing is inspired by John Clare. He was questioning

at the time that we were taking away those habitats. Yes. And we

are still doing it today. So some things true then are still true

nowadays. Congratulations on the gold medal. Well deserved. The

inspiration Adam's taken from our native countryside is echoed on the

opposite of Main Avenue in a garden designed by Professor Nigel Dunnett.

Nigel taken time out to design a garden that showcases different

styles of meadow planting, as Chris has been discovering.

How has your experience at the Olympic Park influenced what you've

achieved here? It is almost the other way round, because this

garden is full of my typical style of planting, which we've applied in

the London Olympic Park Particular over the 2012 gardens, half a mile

of these mixed naturalistic perennial plantings. What's

different about these is we worked with the habitat types, from

woodland and shade through to bright sun and meadows and woodland

edge. So we are looking at woodland here. It is beautiful with

aquilegias. Native grasses. We pint up with adding a other things in --

pe pep it up with adding other things. I've used the lily

throughout. The pale pink wild form coming up through grass. When you

have those ephemeral plants it really excites. To have these

emerging through the lower layer really gives you drama. And the

canallals are bounded by narrow -- canals are bounded with narrow

strips We have what we call our bio-Swale mix. This is a zero run-

off garden. It is capturing all the rainwater through the Swale which

is fill up with water. The water can go down slowly into the ground.

It cleans the water like a reed bed and we get lovely clear water in

the central pools. I love the way you take a principle which is

evident out in nature, in the wild, and cleanse it and refine it and

make it garden worthy. I call them evokations of nature. I look to

dramatic and beautiful vegetation in different parts of the world and

adapt it. For example this more dry meadow with the white form of the

Lily coming through is a really nice example. We have native wild

flowers, lots of grass, but the white lilies are special. I've seen

the martagon lilies staining whole hillsides pink and white in

southern Europe through the sheer numbers. Most people see lilies in

pots but in the wild they can be so dramatic. There is so much

potential to be artistic with plants and to produce visual

spectacles. For me, I like to think that some of the things we are

working with, particularly in the Olympic Park, people's jaws are

going to drop at the spectacle of it. They are certainly dropping

here at Chelsea Flower Show. It's a stunning garden. Congratulations.

If you do have a ticket to the Games this summer do make time to

view Nigel's work first hand. Mary Berry is one of our most

respected cookery writers, with over 70 best-selling books to her

name. Many of you will know her as a judge on the BBC's Great British

Bake Off but what you may not know is Mary is also a passionate

gardener. She's tend her garden in Buckinghamshire for 22 years. She

invited us to brave the weather for our own private tour.

I wasn't interested in gardening until the children had grown up a

bit. As they grew up and spent more time at school, I had a bit of time

on my hands. I enjoyed it. I like to have in the garden all different

areas. Some formal, some informal. I love the pond. In the evening the

idea is to come with a glass in hand and have the sun setting, but

nearly always I'm just pulling out the odd weed around or deadheading

or something. Spring is a yellow time. There is

the marigold. The primulas, I picked up these seedlings and dug

them out and nurtured them and brought them back. They are doing

quite well. The pink is coming through. One ar rum lily, I have

not had success with them. We tried to build them in the water and had

half logs and earth but the ducks sit on the top of them. I've moved

them up the bank a bit and I'm hoping they will get going. As the

year goes on, we have in the borders lovely soft colours. I like

soft colours. The one thing I cannot stand is orange.

You are not going to change me. I wouldn't wear an orange jumper

either. Here's the meadow. This is a real

cast to the formal part of the garden -- contrast to the formal

part of the garden. It's a very pleasant place to be. Lots of

wildlife here. And we have the path going across and the path coming up.

A few wild roses. In summer it's almost up to my waist. It looks

very beautiful as the winds blue and the sun is on it. Very paefplt

is to have something to pick. These make a lovely mixture, these tulips.

This egrow when you put them in water, they seem to get taller.

These have such a wonderful scent. I think this is lovely, the proper

name I can't say, I call it Japonica. I usually snip it off

there and have five or six in a tall vase, it looks wonderful.

I feel totally at home here in the herb garden. I have lovely bay and

then I use all sorts of sages. I suppose I use chives more than

anything else. Then we've got the marjoram here, golden and plain.

And many thymes. I never use a dried herb noi, just fresh herbs

from the garden. I really like a garden which is

full of colour and tidy. And it's just the same in the kitchen. I

like a tidy kitchen. I like things to look good. I think you could say

Mary, it was a rotten day, rotten weather, but a wonderful garden.

is. It's a great joy to us. Favourite spot? I like by the pond.

On that day it was raining so hard. I've enjoyed renewing the marginal

plants. We've got lovely primula at the moment and arum lilies not too

successful. Now you've moved it up the bank a bit, I reckon it might

be more successful. You need to keept ducks off it. Ducks and

gardens don't go together.. They were sitting right on the top.

There are you! I think you'll be OK with that. I shall tend it well.

The wildlife is ofg -- obviously important, we're featuring wildlife

guard nds, it means something to you. We have a meadow. Sadly, there

are not very glamorous plnts in it, because it is all going back to

grasses. We're not replanting it. After many years of that it goes

back to grasses, doesn't it? I have exactly the same on talk down and

Cricklade mixture. I also put in yellow rattle, which weakens grass.

Generally you don't scatter seed on grass to make a meadow because it's

just beaten by the grass, but you can scatter yellow rattle seed

among it to weaken the grass. This wasn't intended to be a dlinic, but

I'm happy to turn it into one! try that. It's a semi-parasite. It

weakens the grass and you get the yellow flowers as well. When it's

clear I can plant more interesting things. Can you put in some plugs

in. Especially near the edge so everybody can admire it. Yes. You

must have a good kitchen garden. We saw the herb there's. On that day,

very, very wot, very little growing. But now every row is ready to come

up. I always plant in the vegetable garden things that we enjoy eating.

The herb garden is a huge joy. I hate dried herbs. Now you have them

all the year round in the garden. It's been a delight to talk to you.

What are you doing back there? Lavender biscuits. Oh, I say!

Especially made for you. Bless your heart, this will be eaten within

about 15 seconds now. Nts and the lavender I put in was just the leaf.

I chop today exceedingly finely and into a shortbread biscuit. That's a

fair reck pence for gardening advice, baking advice. We look

forward to see you on our screens soon. We're sending Mary out to

find the answers to her questions. We'll catch up with you later.

Thank you very much, Mary Berry. Mary was talking about it as well,

we prop gait plants madly, we take cuttings of this and shoots of that

and root them. Some plants don't need us involved at all. They're

very good at self-seeding. They spread themselves everywhere,

sometimes where you don't want them. Carol's been finding out the most

successful self-seeders. There are myriad different ways

that plants have evolved to distribute their seeds, depending

on the prevailing conditions and their situation. As kids we're all

used to doing that familiar thing where you blow away the dandelion

clock. First of all the flower is polinated and it closes in and

inside here lots is going on. That seed is set. Finally, when it's

ripe and on a dry, sunny day, the clock emerges and at the perfect

further. In the case of lupins, when the flowers have fallen the

seed pod swells, gets really dry and crisp. On a hot, sunny day, the

whole thing twists and explodes. Other legumes, plants in the pea

family, use the same method. A lot of them are very familiar to us.

Sweetpeas, peas themselves and is the euphorbia. If you happen to

be nearby, you can sometimes hear their seeds as they are catapoulted

into the air. In some cases, third parties are employed. Strawberries,

for instance use birds, animals to distribute their seed. Strawberries

belong to the rose family. There are so many members of the family

that we're familiar with including giums. In their case, the seed has

no capsule at all. It's completely open. But what it does have is a

velcro mechanism, so an animal or huemon or bird walks by, the seeds

attach themselves and are carried off. Any plant that lives in or

beside water is liable to have evolved with that water and use it

to spread its seed. The coconut is a perfect example. These huge seeds

will tumble into the sea and be swept away to land up on a distant

shore and make yet another coconut palm.

Of course, not many of us have coconuts in our garden, but we do

have water and in it we grow plants like water lilies which employ

exactly the same method to move their seeds around. As gardeners we

grow lots of plants from seed. But occasionally plants take it upon

themselves to join in. And it's those self-seeders that can make

all the difference between a monotonous gathering and a

deplorious garden party. Tonight we're looking at the

benefit of wildflowers in the benefit of wildflowers in the

gardens. It's clear that one huge benefit is because of the

polinating insects they attract. One insect often seen as a cut

above the rest is the bumblebee. One man who knows all about them is

Dr Ben Darvill from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. So bumblebees

as distinct from honeybees? honeybees maybe people wouldn't

notice in their gardens. They're small and brown and not distinctive.

Bumblebees are the stripey things we love to see on our irises

amongst other things. These are the ones we're looking for. These are

the ones we need to take care of. Why? Why are they so important?

Why? Why are they so important? They polinate a huge variety of

different things. They help the flowers produce seeds or fruit. In

the garden that gives us seed. In farmland something like 84% of

Europe's crops need bees to polinate them. Yeah, they're very

important. Why are they in danger then? Are they in danger? They are

I'm afraid. There have been huge declines across the UK, we've lost

two species and many species are seriously in decline. How many do

we have all together? There are 24 species. But most people will

struggle to see more than six or seven in the garden. The others are

very rare. There are far fewer flowers in the countryside than

there used to be. You have watching this programme millions who would

like to do something about it. What can we do to redress the balance?

Masses. Gardens cover a vast area Masses. Gardens cover a vast area

in the UK. Well over a million acres. If everybody in the UK did a

bit to help bees it would make a significant difference. It's about

planting the right flowers. It's very important that people choose

appropriately. How can we find out? I can list a few, but the easier

thing would be for people to go onto our website. We have a brand

new app, which allows people to choose the plants in their gardens

already that are good for bees, find out a score for their garden

and get further recommendations to make it even better. These are

plants rich in nectar and in pollen. That's right and flowering

throughout the year as well, so that the bees are left without

anything to feed from. Thank you Ben. We're answering the call of

the wild tonight. This year's event supported by M&G Investments boast

a host of exhibits promosting the importance of wildlife friendly

gardens. Still to come: A meadow in minutes, the turf that does all

your hard work for you. Towering ambition - Diarmuid Gavin

tells us how his plant rich pyramid could inspire cities to go green.

From here I can see what you had for breakfast. From here a lot of

people would see their own breakfast. And Mary's mission,

we'll find out if cookery writer Mary Berry has had a great day out

at Chelsea. Oh, gosh, it's a myriad of

different plants and colours. There's been lots of interest in

the painted pots we showed yesterday. The RHS are auctioning

these online. Go to their website, in aid of their schools gardening

campaign. Here are three of them. The one on the left is the top

price at the moment at �285. That's Judi Dench's pot. The middle is �82,

that's Mary Berry. One on the right is mine, at the moment at �200.

Mary's is nicer than mine. Go online and bid for a pot. It's all

in the cause of getting children gardening. What's all this about

you and a taxi with a garden in the back? I came out of the hotel the

other morning, I was greeted by a floral bounty that was a black cab.

I thought it was going to be the outside, but inside was like

walking into a glass house, it had tomatoes, strawberries and potted

plants and little he isian cushions. It was just extraordinary. Why?

you know, I think it's all part of the black cab in bloom. It's urban

greening. I have to say the cushions were a bit itchy. I don't

recommend he isian. One man who was advocating the benefits of wildlife

gardening in the 1980s was the late Geoff Hamilton. He encouraged

viewers to create outdoor spaces to attract polinating insects. After

his death in 1996 his son Nick took over his gardens at Barnsdale. We

caught up with him a few weeks ago. He spoke about the ethos that's

When my father was setting up the gardens here his ethos was very

much to be organic and therefore to be wildlife friendly. It had had a

hippie image before then. That's something that he definitely wasn't.

He was somebody, I know for a fact from talking to lots of people, he

was somebody that if he told people that this was the thing to do on

the television, that they'd all rush out first thing Saturday

morning and doing it. The 39 individual gardens and features

that are created here were created very much with wildlife in mind.

Obviously we've gardened over the years on organic principles. This

is one of the last ones that my father created. This is the

wildlife pond and stream, created to encourage people how to attract

to encourage people how to attract wildlife into a garden. It evokes

great memories of my father. This was something he really enjoyed

doing. He didn't enjoy digging the pond very much I have to say. But

it was something that summed him up and has done everything that he

ever want today to do. It's nice when a plan comes together. Now the

great stream project continues. You'll remember last week I

finished off the stream and the pond and I got the water moving too.

The sound of running water in the garden really does make a

difference. I love it. Water is essential in any sort of garden and

particularly a wildlife garden, because obviously, everything that

lives needs water. It creates part of the whole ecosystem of a

wildlife environment. It's created in 1996, one of the first

things my father planted in here was the classic bog garden plant,

the marsh marigold. It is fantastically inspirational with

the bright yellow cups, which is suitable for insects. It has

gradually started to work its way into the pond.

This is our wildlife garden, which is situated right at the very top

of the gardens here at Barnsdale and has been designed not only to

be of interest 12 months of the year but more importantly to be

sustainable for wildlife through the 12 months. Things like this

winter box have finished flowering now. The usage now has been tone

over by the pulmonaria and the euphorbia, so the wildlife have

something else to move to. There is no doubt that if you conserve and

maintain that delicate balance of wildlife in the garden you will

solve your pest problems without having to lift a finger. At Chelsea

this year we are looking to bring a little piece of Barnsdale to

Chelsea and also to try and focus on that wildlife aspect. We'll be

using a lot of plants that attract wildlife. Certainly the more nectar

plants. We are looking at hissup, geraniums, the campanulas and the

bell flower. Chelsea being the most prestigious show in the world, it

is a fantastic window to take Barnsdale to. Barnsdale is the most

fantastic place to be in the world, so what better combination can I

have? Good to hear Geoff's voice again.

Your dad's work still goes on. Absolutely. He will never die will

he? That wildlife and organic element at Barnsdale it is shot

through the place. Very much so Alan. We've been organic for 25

years and we need the wildlife to do a lot of the work for us. It

doesn't enable us to sit back and take it easily. We have it very

much as a running through throughout the garden. What are the

difficulties of running a garden and a nursery. You are selling the

plants and keeping the garden looking good. It's a double

pressure in a way. It is. I love it. I can Potter about in the nursery

and then I'm in the garden. The biggest problem I find is that

we'll never ever grow everything we have in the garden. People see

something in the garden and then want it. We spend a lot of time

directing them to other nurseries, like here at Chelsea. You must be

heartened by this whole urban greening thing. There is always an

opportunity isn't there? I think there is. People don't quite

realise what benefit they have themselves. They bring the fields

and the surrounding area into their own garden and it does enlighten

your life. It's fantastic to see the insects buzzing about and the

other wildlife that it brings. about the plants you would

recommend. You have a lovely little stand, a jewel stand. Picks out a

couple you think ech wildlife garden should have. The valerian,

that's a fantastic pollinator for insects, as is the white robin. It

is the white form of the ragged robin and very good pollinating

plants for the insects. But it is not just about that but the other

wildlife. The firns and the heuch actions give cover. And you can't

choose the wildlife, it chooses you. Exactly. Without the pest you don't

get the predator, which are the ones we want It's a balance between

the two. Lovely to see you and to remember Geoff.

Alys Fowler has been here too. She's been visiting the show today.

Alys's own gardening style is always in tune with her natural

surroundings so Chris caught up with her to find out what was

inspiring her about this year's cheap.

I have completely fall no-one love with the Korean garden. For me that

planting plan is exquisite and it had so many things I really wasn't

aware of, so it is exciting to see new stuff. There is huge variety in

subtle flower there is, which is great for wildlife. It is going to

give that diverse delivery of nectar. And it is all native. I

guess across the gardens in general there's been so much, a really

relaxed planting style. There is so much that's good for wildlife. It

is quite a joy to see all the gardens buzzing with insects.

difficult for people visiting the show, when they look at a bloom to

think, well, is that going to be great for wildlife or not? What

broad rules should we be applying? Simple flowers. Stay clear of

anything that is double. Anything that repeat flowers or has a strong

presence. If the bees are visiting it, it is probably a good indicator

that they like it. It is about creating a matrix, not just one

level of floral interest. Have trees, climbers and shrubs. That

increases the insects activity. insects are essentially the base of

the food chain. They perform not only poll ination but they are

above that level. Get the insnects and every else comes to behind.

When you have all the others, the birds and the bats, they help

control your pest problems. It works to your benefit to get this

insects The message many exhibitors are

keen to get across this year is that a nectar-rich meadow doesn't

have to stretch for acres. They can start in your own back garden. It's

just a question of deciding what particular flower mixes you want to

sow. To help you decide, Alys has been to meet students from Capel

Manor College who are staging a beginner's guide to meadows. Hello

Tom. I believe you are a student at Capel Manor. That's right: There is

something special about this turf? Yes, all of these plants tract bats.

How will this bring a bat to your garden? It brings in the moths that

the bats like the eat. Fantastic. And this bit here is something

that's familiar to me. You've used rubble? All repsycheled from

brownfield sites. Will it self colonise with annuals, and we've

put some perennials as well. Will it look after itself. Have a patio

that I took up and underneath was a huge amount of rubble. I did pretty

much the same thing. What flowers have you got in there? Thymes and

Nigella and a bit of flax. It is a really simple, elegant solution.

love the contrast between the urban gritty waste and these delicate

pretty wild flowers. If you want your own slice of urban meadow, all

you need to do is pick the right mixes. These mixes here have been

chosen for their long-flowering interest. They are a mixture of

native and non-natives. Native poppies, toad flax and lots of

cosmos. You begin to realise how long the flourg period is going to

be. There is more and more flowers coming up and each mix is a

different colour scheme. This is a riotous pastel. This is going to

turn into a lot of hot pinks. There's a really beautiful kind of

rich yellow version. The wonderful thing about these is that they've

been specifically designed for garden soil, so you don't have to

impoverish your soil. All you need is a patch and you too can sow

something fantastic for wildlife and to give you a long period of

colour. What I love here is a spied hear already decided to move in.

Two weeks ago, John Wilson had no idea he was coming to Chelsea.

Today he's standing here with a prestigious gold medal. What's

story, John? I got a phone call just over two weeks ago saying they

had a cancellation at Chelsea and Iowa on the waiting list. Would I

be able to fill in? You don't say no, do you? I said yes and

immediately got on with preparing for Malvern the following week and

where I was all last week. So effectively I had about one week to

get ready for this. It is a Jew ill of a stand, this. Thank you. Ferns

it seems to me are so useful in the garden, the damp, shady spots.

gaits no other plant will do. The bits that no other plants will

do. All firms love moisture and shade, but there are a lot of

varieties that are tolerate drier conditions and some sun. There is

hardly anywhere apart from those areas that are in full sun that are

not suitable for tern ferns But when you plant them, dig in plenty

of organic stuff. Your own garden compost, well-rotted manure or leaf

mould. That's the stuff they love. I ger you gave Joe one for his

garden? No, I sold him one. Good man. There's a nurseryman!

Congratulations. Thank you. Tonight we've been taking a look at

the benefits of wild flower meadows. However, if you do want to create

one in your garden, remember they do take a bit of time - until now.

I say that because some of the meadows you see at Chelsea this

week are created from strips of wild flower turf. These roll out

meadows have been produced by Yorkshire-based turf grower Stephen

Fell, who earlier this month agreed 25 years now. What we are trying to

do for our customeres is truce a nice attractive roll they can lay

out in their gardens. I wanted to be able to do the same thing with

wild flowers. We've moved some to which technology to move across to

growing wild flowers that can be rolled out in somebody's garden or

a roof garden. Well people typically try to establish a wild

flower area in their garden, often that soil will be too fertile. Wild

flower seed takes a long time to germinate. The danger is there are

other seeds and roots or rhizomes for previous vegetation which will

overtake that and establish before the flowers get going. We've got

nettles taking over, ground sell, which will spread very fast, as it

seeds prolificly. Cleavers, docks and vigorous rye grasses. You can

imagine a poor wild flower plant here trying to survive. It doesn't

have a chance. Growing wild flower turf on a mat

gives us huge advantage, that it is going to suppress vegetation from

coming you through. This is how we start growing wild flower turf. We

lay down a plastic sheet to stop the roots growing into the soil.

And then we have a layer of felt from re cycled textiles. We have a

substraight of green waste compost and recycled brick. Having got this

level, we put the seed on at just the right seed rate.

It is important to keep that seed moist so that it can germinate

rapidly. We have specialist irrigation to keep it damp, but

equally we must be careful not to overdo it. Wild flowers don't like

waterlogged conditions. Once the wild flower turf has grown to a

stage of maturity that we can sell sit, we cut into it rolls and put

it on to a palate. When you look at it you might think it doesn't look

exciting, but looking into it there are lots of small plants. That's

good time to put wild flower-type turf down. Growing wild flowers and

having them flowering in time for Chelsea is very challenging, so we

need to bring them in where it is warmer. We have various mixtures

flowering probably six weeks earlier than they would normally.

It is really interesting that once we open the doors we get a whole

range of pollinating insects, not only bees and bumblebees but

hoverflys, butterflies and a range of other insects.

At Chelsea I hope the effect we have is that people can see they

can bring wildlife to small areas. That it can be attractive and it

doesn't need to be complicated. They don't need to know a lot about

plants and flowers. They can lay down this and sit back and enjoy

this and let the insects enjoy it as well.

One designer making the headlines this week is Diarmuid Gavin. His

pyramid garden takes urban Greening to a new level. Quite literally.

The garden was created in a you Rica moment. He was walking to the

Royal Hospital grounds. We caught up with him a couple of weeks ago

main is contemporary architecture. I quite like scaffolding. You saw

Albert bridge covered in scaffolding and it seemed to be

stepping up on different layers. I've always wanted to do a hanging

gardens of Babylon to show how people in an urban environment,

where space is limited could possibly garden on top of each

other that. Seemed to be the answer. I can see the shark from here.

Very similar. Wu then you have the more sober architect churl

inspiration, this amazing park that is built on an old railway line in

an urban environment like this, that snakes through the city and

this new building, that's covered in an urban forest in the centre of

Milan. All these things go into inform different steps, different

decisions that you make when creating this tower that reaches

upwards. I hope that Chelsea, that people come to Chelsea will enjoy

it. It's kind of provocative. When you do something so big, you're

making a big statement, for me oddly enough it's not about going

big, it's about doing something different, pushing boundaries and

exploring possibilities. The message is: Can we in the future,

plan in an innovative way to have gardens in an increasingly

urbanised society? Can we make every use of our space and resource

to create gardens that make the most use of light, to create guard

thans are on top of each other, quite as simple as this, when you

water one on the top it drips through everything, to allow plants

to go up and hang down, to create escapes for people. It only becomes

valid and becomes a garden if it drips with plants. If you can be on

that structure and it feels like you're floating in a garden in the

air, I hope it will look structured but dreamy and very, very green.

Alliums and hostas, Silver Birchs and rhododendrons, a swing and

saflding, it's gardening Scotty, but not as we know it. Ladies have

been shrieking as they come down the steel shoot to escape, it is of

course, Diarmuid Gavin's magic peer mud. But what is it -- pyramid. But

what's it all about? There must be a serious point. There is. It's

exploring the notion of a multistory garden in an

increasingly urban society. Lots of people live in cities like London.

There's not a lot of green space. It's an experiment in garden, lots

of different people garden on top of each other. You reckon this

could work on say, a tower block? Well, it's a scaffolding pyramid

that could be permanent in a plaza. We've created by a 60 by 60 metre

space, 576 square metres of usable garden space. If there's enough

light, yeah, I don't see why not. Let's look at some of it. This is a

fabulous swing seat. I'm reluctant to leave that. Past the shed.

practical garden sheds. We have lots of water butts and sheds. We

want to show sustainable gardening. This is a terrace, the meet-and-

greet area where everybody who gardens here would come together.

How many floors all together? floors. Wow. Residents, members

club, I'm in the a member, am I allowed in? You're an honorary

member. Oh, look! Oriental style Pavilion. It's rustic in nature and

then we have this circular opening leading into a secret garden.

walk into a secret garden. It is magical. You said it was and indeed

it is. You disappear from one area into another. It's a garden that

keeps you moving. It does. I love the tree top bamboo walk. Those

ones, I can't believe we've kept on coming up. The black ones start

from here. This shady plant and then rhododendrons. Walk up around

the pink shed to Another Level. Look at it! There's a pond here.

The roof of the shed collects water. It's used in the washing machine.

Do you your washing as you're gardening and you hang it out to

dry, like most people don't. Good drying day. Very good, isn't it?

really is your washing! It is. On the floor floor, Rosemary, thyme,

good light levels up here. We have a Victorian style greenhouse and

these old industrial containers used to plant the fruit and veg.

And still we go. Which level are we on? Four, about to go to five,

which is men's hosery. Oh, thank you! And vegetables. Going up.

You wash your clothes down below and your body and abluegss up here

then. -- ablutions up here then. The water is collected fed to a

barrel down below and used for the fruit and vegetables. I could have

stayed here instead of a hotel. Magical. Are we going up? Yes, up

and up. Two more. Great vantage points here. Across the river.

Absolutely. From here I can see what you had for breakfast. From

here a lot of people would see their own breakfast.

You're very high. It's rather fitting that on top of

your pyramid is a plant and it's a fabulous birch, wonderful peeling

bark. It's heritage. It has fantastic bark and yeah, we wanted

to crown it with a plant and it's in a bed of bell lowing

Mediterranean style planting, where there's full sun. There could not

be a better day to see this. It's wonderful. The London skyline

around us, the bridge is there and all into London and Battersea Power

Station. Well done mate, it's a lovely job. Congratulations.

Everybody enjoys this. We've enjoyed today hugely, the company

of Mary Berry, who was right down there looking at it. She's been in

the show ground. I hope she's had a good time and discovered some

exciting things because as far as I'm concerned, Mary Berry is the

cherry on top of my cake. I've just come in the gates and I'm

so excited. I've been looking forward to this day so much. It

really gives me inspiration for my planting. I get lots of new ideas

and I have one or two questions to ask some of the growers.

Gosh, it's a myriad of different plants and colours.

Oh, here's a friend, we've grown these for three years. They are

wonderful smell, lovely for picking, healthy foliage. We prune them in

March, really hard, took everything out as thin as a pencil. They're

looking very good now. But here they are in bloom.

What a joy. I just love this because you can

see how big the actual hostas grow. There are little miniature ones,

big ones. I always go for the big but what I want to know about are

hardy freesias. There is a new range of prepared freesias which

means they've been given the cold treatment, because freesias are a

native of South Africa, from the cape province. So they can be grown.

The biggest problem is drainage. They like well drained soil and

they need the cold period. Best to plant in the Autumn time. Let them

sit in the cold soil over the winter, then they'll germinate in

spring and the new growth will start to come through. Oh, I can't

wait to order some. It will be exciting. Thank you. You're welcome.

This is my favourite garden. It's got wonderful structure. I think

this would be lovely throughout all seasons. I like the way they've

grown their roses. I like the idea that you can weave Hazel into a

nice dome. I might have a go at making those.

I've had such a wonderful day. This must be the best Chelsea ever! I've

got lots of new ideas, all my questions answered and I can't wait

to get in the garden this weekend. Last year at Chelsea the RHS in

conjunction with the writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven launched

their perfect for polinators initiative. There you are. And I am.

It's a campaign destined to help gardeners identify plants

specifically good for wildlife. 12 months have gone by, so has that

initiative been successful? We're joined by Helen Bostock.

Successful? Incredibly. We can't believe the response that we've had

believe the response that we've had from everybody. The message is

definitely getting out there. plants are leaving the garden

centres. They are. We know that the plant centre at Wisley, we've

doubled the sales in the plants on the list. We've been working with

all sorts of members in the trade, public guard nds, gardening

societies, really to raise awareness about it. I think you

have. The big sign there is put on banks of plants which are good for

bees. They get the buzzing sign. The large labels on the pots

identify them. As do the smaller dangling labels which have a little

logo in the bottom corner, which says it's good for bees and it's a

perfect polinator. So, it's working. What's the way forward? Well, the

whole idea of the list is that it continues to evolve and grow and so

what we've been doing is well, as we speak, ourent moll jists are

working on a new cat Goring -- our entomologiss are working on a new

cat Goring -- gat gory of lists. Rather than by season, we'll do it

by garden condition. Whether it's a wet garden, chalky, whatever

there'll be a list for you. We'll be announcing that on July 4 at RHS

Hampton Court Flower Show. Good for you. We'll do our bit. It's nice to

know we can bring them back in. Hopefully tonight we've given you a

small insight into the importance of our wildflower heritage and how

we can all do something to preserve it like growing a few of these in

# I grew up fast and wild # I never felt right in a garden so

# I never felt right in a garden so different from me.

# I just never belonged # I just longed to be gone

# So the garden one day set me free # I hitched ride with the wind

# I just let him desire where we go # When a flower grows wild

# It can always survive # Wildflowers don't care where they

grow # Just a wild rambling rose seeking

mysteries untold # No regret for the path that I

chose # When a flower grows wild

# It can always survive # Wildflowers don't care where they

grow # Lots and lots of flowers. This

Lots and lots of flowers. This weather's been great. When I sat

down here on Monday, these were in tight bud. Look at them now. It's

not surprising. All of these plants, several weeks of chill at the

beginning of the month and they've just become so turgid, so excited

now the sun's come out. They've all gone pop. It's a lovely thing this

Siberian iris, so beautifully Ben silled, very good for any garden.

Beautiful colour. It's the sort of thing you wish you could paint.

only one had the talent. There we are. We've come to the end of our

coverage from RHS Chelsea Flower Show this evening. Tomorrow we're

back looking at the trends coming out of Chelsea this week. Nicki and

I will be back tomorrow lunch time on BBC within. Digital viewers can