:00:39. > :00:43.an event supported by M M&G Investments. Over the last 100 year,
:00:43. > :00:48.Chelsea has seen everything that the leading lights in horticulture can
:00:48. > :00:54.conger up. We've had swinging towers and tropical flowers. Asked us to
:00:54. > :01:00.think green, even designed with plasticine. Why? This the flower
:01:00. > :01:05.show which demands exhibiters to push the boundaries. Today we are
:01:05. > :01:11.finding out. Today, wall on the wild side. Chris Beardshaw looks at the
:01:11. > :01:21.art designed to make a statement in your garden. Why use just a hedge or
:01:21. > :01:22.
:01:22. > :01:29.a simple trer lis, when you can play with structures which in themselves
:01:29. > :01:36.themselves become works of art. plants which keep giving. It is hard
:01:36. > :01:41.to imagine any plant lover than this! And news quiz - which
:01:41. > :01:46.Scandinavian comedian has a passion for gardening? Sandi Toksvig is here
:01:46. > :01:51.looking for answers. I need to find this things which can be fragrant
:01:51. > :01:56.and beautiful, but will withstand harsher conditions than the average
:01:56. > :02:00.suburban garden. When you think about garden landscaping, a few
:02:00. > :02:05.paving stones, decking maybe, some fencing - that all might spring to
:02:05. > :02:12.mind. Those materials are so last year! Some designers want to start
:02:12. > :02:17.to think outside the box when it comes to outdoor spaces. Over the
:02:17. > :02:22.years, Chelsea has seen gardens created from diverse materials. In
:02:22. > :02:30.1994 Paul Cooper's Constructivist Garden created a storm in a flower
:02:30. > :02:35.pot, with tea bags hanging from trees. In 2 oh 009 James May caused
:02:35. > :02:38.controversy with his garden designed with plasticine. Neither left with a
:02:38. > :02:43.medal. It does not stop designers from pushing the boundaries here.
:02:43. > :02:51.This year, there is the odd flash of radical thinking, with clever use of
:02:51. > :02:56.materials in the gardens. Jamie Dunstone has taken four materials
:02:57. > :03:01.and used them in a brave way. On the floor we have Cumbrian slate, with I
:03:01. > :03:05.is very smooth, but it has been roughened, so it is nonslip when
:03:05. > :03:14.wet. These blocks of yew have been used as part of the structure of the
:03:14. > :03:19.garden. The stand-out thing is perhaps this willow by Emma Stofard.
:03:19. > :03:23.They have been treated with linseed oil. It is the shapes and blocks
:03:23. > :03:29.which make it powerful. The one radical element is all of this
:03:29. > :03:37.barley. It is not conventional planting - it has been used in a
:03:37. > :03:45.materialistic way. Very unusual. ??FORCEWHITE From barley to centre
:03:45. > :03:52.barley - in this garden Jinny Blom has used familiar materials, but in
:03:52. > :03:57.a very cutting edge way. This is made from birch plywood, not unique.
:03:57. > :04:06.Look how it has been made. This elevates into something
:04:06. > :04:11.special. The stone here, this is an Italian sandstone sismt an ancient
:04:11. > :04:15.material -- it is an ancient material. It is incredibly difficult
:04:15. > :04:21.to achieve this. The craftsmanship which goes into it is really
:04:21. > :04:27.important. Jinny has tide the garden together though by using this stone
:04:27. > :04:33.as a mulch throughout the beds. It comes from the same quarry and has a
:04:33. > :04:41.varation in the colour, as it goes from grey to brown. It unites the
:04:41. > :04:45.garden and works well. The East Garden Village uses a whole range of
:04:45. > :04:51.materials throughout the garden. This structure is made from steel,
:04:52. > :04:55.which has been painted with a copper paint and chemically aged. Real
:04:55. > :04:59.copper would have been too expensive and not strong enough to support
:04:59. > :05:03.this structure. The modern technology has been incredibly
:05:04. > :05:09.useful here. It is the same with this machine-cut timber. It is
:05:09. > :05:14.called a dig-bow and it is a sustainable, tropical hardwood and
:05:14. > :05:18.that gives it this beautiful colour. There is also glass, which you don't
:05:18. > :05:23.see at first. It flows around the curves of the building at the back.
:05:23. > :05:28.The one material which ties the whole garden together is this clay
:05:28. > :05:35.paver on the floor. It is from bell gum. It is great the way it snakes
:05:35. > :05:40.through. Because it is a tinny unit you can get these wonderful curves
:05:40. > :05:44.that link everything together. Now, we may not have tea bags and
:05:44. > :05:53.plasticine this year, but all these gardens are innovative and bang
:05:53. > :06:01.up-to-date. The Fresh Garden category demands
:06:01. > :06:07.for designers to think outside of the box. This is Fernando Gonzalez's
:06:07. > :06:16.Fresh Garden - Sound of Silence. He has used this stone based on a Seine
:06:16. > :06:23.garden. Like any Japanese garden worth its soy sauce, there is a lone
:06:23. > :06:31.bonsai making a bold statement. They have been exhibited since 1913. It
:06:31. > :06:38.is a delicate art form, shrouded in mystery, not for the faint-hearted.
:06:38. > :06:42.Is that a myth? I will find out from a bonsai expert. We have looked at
:06:42. > :06:46.ten plants awarded Plant of the Decade by the RHS. One of these will
:06:46. > :06:50.go on to win the title of plant of Plant of the Centenary. That
:06:50. > :07:00.decision will be made by your vote. Roy has reached then seventh plant
:07:00. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:15.on the list. It is 1973 and time to No-one knows where or when this
:07:15. > :07:22.wallflower originated. It commemorates one of brin's most
:07:22. > :07:30.celebrated gardener -- Britain's most celebrated gardeners. It was
:07:30. > :07:37.first sthon at Chelsea in 1898 -- shown at Chelsea in 1992. It was in
:07:37. > :07:43.many gardens before that. It is a woody plant, producing a mound of up
:07:43. > :07:53.to two feet high of narrow, grey leaves and produces these flowers
:07:53. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :08:00.which are violet or purple in bud, openening to a mauve colour. If the
:08:00. > :08:04.winter is mild they can produce into December. It is hard to find a more
:08:04. > :08:08.pleasing plant of its kind than this one.
:08:08. > :08:13.Roy will introduce us to another Plant of the Decade later in the
:08:13. > :08:19.programme. You can find out about all the plants and how to vote by
:08:19. > :08:24.following the link on our website. Show gardens are used as a barometer
:08:24. > :08:28.for the latest trends. Chris Beardshaw has been looking at garden
:08:28. > :08:32.wall art which knows no boundaries. One of the important things to
:08:33. > :08:37.consider in a garden is how it is divided up, not just the boundaries
:08:37. > :08:41.but the divisions within the garden. Think of the garden as a novel - a
:08:41. > :08:48.series of chapters. It is important to have distinction between those
:08:48. > :08:54.chapters. Why use a hedge or trellis when you can play with structures
:08:54. > :08:58.which in themselves become a work of art. It could be as simple as oak
:08:58. > :09:04.beams standing vertically which give you tantalising glimpses of the
:09:04. > :09:09.garden beyond, but equally give you a sense of enclosure. Here we have
:09:09. > :09:17.stain stainless steal balls with water dribbling now. There is a
:09:17. > :09:20.wonderful audible quality to this but a sense of containment. Stacked,
:09:20. > :09:30.curved and allowing the garden to develop beyond. These are the sort
:09:30. > :09:32.
:09:32. > :09:38.of ideas that transform the mundane into real work s of art.
:09:38. > :09:43.This garden contains an example of how designer's lateral thinking can
:09:43. > :09:47.express the message of the overall theme of the garden, while
:09:47. > :09:52.decorating the boundaries, dragging them into the core of the statement.
:09:52. > :09:57.This particular garden concerns itself with organisms which are
:09:57. > :10:04.alien from foreign climates which are threatening our own plants in
:10:04. > :10:12.the landscapes and gardens. It shows a motif on the wall n the concrete,
:10:12. > :10:19.of the organisms themselves - the disease of woody plants and the
:10:19. > :10:25.frilly edges of the pennywort. An American species. No-one expects you
:10:25. > :10:30.to repeat this with such negative imagery. You can take the principal
:10:30. > :10:35.of decoration on the external panels and suddenly you bring the garden to
:10:35. > :10:42.life, combine that with a slate sculpture here. Using materials
:10:42. > :10:47.familiar to all of us and art comes through the garden. The Brewin
:10:47. > :10:52.Dolphin garden contains many ideas and concepts which are transferred
:10:52. > :11:01.to deal with boundaries and edges in the garden. For instance, this
:11:01. > :11:06.entire perking la is a sophisticated -- pergola is a sophisticated
:11:07. > :11:12.structure. It allows the light, as it catches the notches which have
:11:12. > :11:20.been edged in - it gives a wonderful three-dimensional feel to the
:11:20. > :11:26.structure. Further up is a steel box system into which a recessed plywood
:11:26. > :11:31.panel. Because it is the process of gluing wood together, when you cut
:11:31. > :11:38.into it, you expose the fingerprint of the law layers of timber. At the
:11:38. > :11:43.top of the garden some pebbles. These are reminisce sent to the
:11:43. > :11:49.pebble tiles you get on a fabric net in your bathroom. Here they have
:11:49. > :11:54.been put into a block and rendered wall, in that wonderful bull blood
:11:54. > :11:59.red colour. It brings a statement to any contemporary garden.
:11:59. > :12:04.I think the humble garden gnome takes some beating as a statement.
:12:04. > :12:09.They have been barred from Chelsea over the past 99 years but have been
:12:09. > :12:15.granted access for the centenary celebrations. They could not wait to
:12:15. > :12:19.get in soun. Some are here for a good cause. All week, celebrities
:12:19. > :12:23.have been painting them in order to raise money for the RHS charity
:12:23. > :12:29.which aims to get more gardens into schools. They will be auctioned off
:12:29. > :12:37.at the end of the week. We have a Tottenham gnome here... Sorry Joe
:12:37. > :12:43.Swift, it is a gnome done by Joe. This might be a leopard and on the
:12:43. > :12:47.end, apologies to Damien Hirst, my attempt at a spotted gnome. You can
:12:48. > :12:52.follow the link to the show on the website. The winter may have
:12:52. > :12:55.outstayed its welcome this year and caused problems for exhibiters, but
:12:55. > :13:01.whatever the weather t show must go on. Over the years Chelsea has seen
:13:01. > :13:08.it all weather wise. It has been baked by blazing sun and battered by
:13:08. > :13:13.heavy rain. It was so bad in 1932, the summer ground fell to pieces.
:13:13. > :13:17.The show ground has backbench flooded and a I can of course has
:13:17. > :13:22.collapsed. This year, we were still getting snow at the beginning of the
:13:22. > :13:32.month. What has been happening to our weather? Andy has been finding
:13:32. > :13:32.
:13:32. > :13:36.out. I am here with Carol Kirkwood. When will we get a warm front?
:13:36. > :13:43.will be freezing tomorrow as well. Our weather is driven by the jet
:13:43. > :13:47.stream. We've had the second wettest year. It looks like we are on course
:13:47. > :13:51.for the coldest spring in 30 years. Depending on where the jet steam is
:13:51. > :13:57.will have an impact. If it is to the nosht-west of us, we will have a
:13:57. > :14:02.fine summer. Last year, low pressure dominated our weather and it was
:14:03. > :14:07.pants - frankly! Do we have to get used to this year after year?
:14:07. > :14:12.a huge subject, it is happening. We cannot look at incidents in
:14:13. > :14:17.isolation. It is a long-term thing we are all considering. What about
:14:18. > :14:23.Bank Holiday Monday? A big day for guarders. Will it be good?
:14:23. > :14:27.Scotland and Ireland we have a cold front, that is introducing rain. For
:14:27. > :14:31.England and Wales, it should not be too bad. This year, with snow
:14:31. > :14:36.falling in some parts of the country at the beginning oh of May, the
:14:36. > :14:41.biggest problem for growers has been convincing growers that spring has
:14:42. > :14:51.sprung. Rachel has been speaking to exhibiters who have been getting
:14:52. > :15:02.
:15:02. > :15:10.expect a succession of colour from six to eight weeks in the spring,
:15:10. > :15:13.but this year, everything is different. Normally, we would have
:15:13. > :15:18.these flowering in the middle of April, intermediates at the
:15:18. > :15:22.beginning of May, and the tall bearded would be into their stride
:15:22. > :15:27.by now, but the season is late this year because of the weather. They
:15:27. > :15:31.are up to a month late. But it has given an opportunity for the
:15:31. > :15:35.intermediates to shine. Absolutely, we do not usually have many, because
:15:35. > :15:43.they are getting to the end of the season and beginning to look tatty.
:15:43. > :15:50.I love this one, it has caught my eye. A wonderful feathered pattern.
:15:50. > :15:55.It is stunning. It is particularly beautiful, one of my favourites.
:15:55. > :16:01.Getting daily to flower in the middle of May is hard enough. At the
:16:01. > :16:06.beginning of the year, when plants are small, we can be in control of
:16:06. > :16:10.heat and light, but as the plants get bigger, we run into February and
:16:10. > :16:18.March, so we need to move them to a different location, and then we had
:16:18. > :16:24.a long spell of the weather, we did not see much sun. We need the sun to
:16:24. > :16:29.bring the buds into flower. We set out with 500 plants, it is not until
:16:29. > :16:35.you arrive here and you overload the lorry, and you think, we are a bit
:16:35. > :16:41.like. So we had to adapt, a cue more props, a bit of judicious spacing,
:16:41. > :16:46.to help it along. Everybody this year is in the same position, or in
:16:46. > :16:50.the same bed together. We have been talking to each other, everybody has
:16:50. > :16:55.got a story to tell about how the weather has affected them. The fact
:16:55. > :16:57.that we have got the high percentage of gold medals this year
:16:57. > :17:07.demonstrates the commitment that every nursery has two come to
:17:07. > :17:09.
:17:09. > :17:15.Chelsea. It has been cold, but they love it cold. I was going to launch
:17:15. > :17:22.yours here, but no talking would help, she would not perform, so she
:17:22. > :17:30.cannot be bullied! It is typical, I was so chuffed. It is typical, she
:17:30. > :17:35.is late! Is that like you? !This is lovely. It is one of my favourites,
:17:35. > :17:41.normally it has gone over by now, but it has done it stuff for this
:17:41. > :17:46.show. So there is an upside.For me, yes.
:17:46. > :17:51.The awful weather did not stop Reg Bolton from bringing his bonsai to
:17:51. > :17:54.the show. There is no doubt that they are beautiful, but many are put
:17:54. > :17:58.off because they look high maintenance. They are readily
:17:58. > :18:03.available from garden centres but can be expensive, so you need to
:18:03. > :18:11.know how to look after them properly. How long have they been
:18:11. > :18:16.here? We have a little advertisement that says they were here from 1913.
:18:16. > :18:19.I have heard them called Japanese tour of trees, because they are,
:18:19. > :18:24.they look like perfection personified. People are worried
:18:24. > :18:28.about buying them. They are not cheap, and how difficult are they to
:18:28. > :18:36.keep looking like that? They need maintaining daily. Lots of people
:18:36. > :18:43.bring them indoors, which is wrong. It is a normal tree, to live
:18:43. > :18:48.outside. Keep them outside. Keep them well watered and fed. People
:18:48. > :18:52.think that they are put in pots and left, they are not. You cannot leave
:18:52. > :18:57.them, you have to care for them virtually daily. They need watering,
:18:57. > :19:04.feeding. They do not stay like this, they have to be groomed and
:19:04. > :19:14.cut and put into shape. If you start with starter material like this, you
:19:14. > :19:16.
:19:16. > :19:23.Chinese junipers. They are an easy plan to use. It is essential that
:19:23. > :19:30.they do not get put in a pot. have to prune? You have to prune the
:19:30. > :19:35.route. You are restricting the growth. If you do not have a good
:19:35. > :19:41.root system, you do not have a good top system. You can have a go. In
:19:42. > :19:49.this area, anything that is hanging down like this is going to be no
:19:49. > :19:59.good. There is some here. It is not going to... Shall I tried it here?
:19:59. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:07.Yes. Can any cherry's can any cherry be treated like this? Yes.I am
:20:07. > :20:13.poised, ready! What is the oldest tree that you have done? The one on
:20:13. > :20:18.the stand that I have, the English elm, this was taken as a route
:20:18. > :20:24.sucker in 1969, from trees that were taken down to make way for shops.
:20:24. > :20:31.is beautiful. I now know how to look after it, they need love and care
:20:31. > :20:38.and water, but it is worth it. Over the years, the Great Pavilion
:20:38. > :20:42.has showcased plans of all shapes and sizes. In 1983, it was the
:20:42. > :20:48.Palace purple that caused a stir. This plant has been awarded a Plant
:20:48. > :20:58.of the Decade board. This week, we have been taking a closer look at
:20:58. > :21:07.
:21:08. > :21:12.these plants, one for each decade of When this was exhibited in 1983, it
:21:12. > :21:18.became the first of its kind to be grown as a hardy flowering foliage
:21:18. > :21:25.perennial. It started one of the major plant fashions of the last
:21:25. > :21:32.quarter of a century. Now, there are hundreds of them, varying in leaf
:21:32. > :21:42.shape and colour. Making them one of the most popular of all hardy
:21:42. > :21:43.
:21:43. > :21:48.perennials. The angular foliage is topped in summer by sprays of tiny
:21:48. > :21:56.pale flowers, which, with its mandate habit, help to maintain the
:21:56. > :22:00.popularity today. It is rather cloudy today, and we
:22:00. > :22:07.are in the cloudy Bay garden, but Sandi Toksvig will be our ray of
:22:07. > :22:11.sunshine! My arm well, you look like a ray of sunshine! We have to try!
:22:11. > :22:17.We are surrounded by so much beauty, I have competition! You have been
:22:18. > :22:20.quite a few times? I come every year if I can manage it. I get so
:22:20. > :22:26.overexcited about the designs, the flowers, meeting experts, it is
:22:26. > :22:31.great. When did you start getting into gardening? I helped my
:22:31. > :22:37.grandfather when I was little. He grew anything and everything, from
:22:37. > :22:41.fragrant flowers to the gorgeous things we can eat. He inspired you?
:22:41. > :22:46.He did. I am not a Craig Gardner, because it takes up so much time,
:22:46. > :22:51.but I often think of him. What is your garden like? It is a blank
:22:52. > :22:57.canvas at the moment. It is a great start! We had a hill behind our
:22:57. > :23:01.house, we live on the beach, and we made it into terraces. You can be
:23:01. > :23:07.inspired when you visit somebody else's garden, I saw sold dolly's
:23:07. > :23:11.garden in Spain. He thought that each bit of your garden should be
:23:11. > :23:16.treated as if it was a separate room in your house, so the same way as
:23:16. > :23:21.you have different rooms, you should divide your garden up. We have got
:23:21. > :23:26.an area for playing games, and area for eating, and every for
:23:26. > :23:30.barbecuing, and area for being quiet. Are you looking for
:23:30. > :23:34.inspiration, plans that might work? My concern is, because we are on the
:23:34. > :23:40.beach, there will be a limited number of plans that will work for
:23:40. > :23:44.us. I need to find those things that can be fragrant and beautiful summer
:23:44. > :23:50.but will withstand slightly hotter conditions than the average suburban
:23:50. > :23:56.garden. Have you had any disasters in the past? Yes, mostly involving
:23:56. > :24:02.losing at croquet, which is a vicious game! I do love the games!
:24:03. > :24:07.There has got to be room for that. You are into a fighting game?
:24:07. > :24:14.it is an ancient game, it is wonderful, you should come over
:24:14. > :24:19.sometime! It is a vicious game, you throw sticks and have to hit over
:24:19. > :24:23.other people's soldiers. I like the idea that the Vikings arrived and
:24:23. > :24:31.they were a friendly people and they brought nice games for us to play.
:24:31. > :24:35.That is a nicer approach! Enjoy the rest of the day, thank you.
:24:35. > :24:40.You can see more of Sandi Toksvig and her garden tonight when she
:24:40. > :24:44.joins us on BBC Two at 8pm. She will be letting us tag along as she takes
:24:44. > :24:47.a look around the show. There is nothing more beautiful than
:24:48. > :24:52.a walk through a wildflower meadow, so it is hardly surprising that many
:24:52. > :25:00.of us want to include some of them in our gardens. Wildflowers are
:25:00. > :25:04.fleeting beauty, and we often demand interest so much longer. Carol
:25:04. > :25:13.Kirkwood is taking a walk on the wild side, with an eye for cousins
:25:13. > :25:18.that keep giving and giving. The plants in the Great Pavilion
:25:18. > :25:22.have been pruned and pampered to the peak of perfection. But here and
:25:22. > :25:30.there, in quiet corners, plants that are equally beautiful but much more
:25:30. > :25:35.on issuing. I am down with the natives, they have created a
:25:35. > :25:44.beautiful meadow. It is packed full of wildflowers, including
:25:44. > :25:54.forget-me-nots. On this corner, a subtle plant, and in the background,
:25:54. > :25:55.
:25:55. > :25:59.a slightly bigger plant, and we go it as chives. It makes a great
:25:59. > :26:09.edging is the garden, but it is not showing. Some of these are more
:26:09. > :26:19.
:26:19. > :26:25.spectacular, and some of them are natives, nonetheless, it relies on
:26:25. > :26:28.big, bright, beautiful flowers. In our beds and borders, we want that
:26:28. > :26:38.sort of thing, and plant breeders have made sure that we do, they
:26:38. > :26:43.
:26:43. > :26:48.produce plans that are bigger and flower earrings brighter than this
:26:48. > :26:54.lovely one. It is almost as though there is a light inside it that
:26:54. > :26:59.shines forth, and lights up any border brilliantly. It has got mixed
:27:00. > :27:06.parentage, so it does not need the damp conditions. It also forms the
:27:06. > :27:13.perfect background to the ecosphere is of this. This is purple rain, a
:27:13. > :27:21.far cry from the dainty chives. It is a bulb, so took it in randomly
:27:21. > :27:28.here and there, in a lovely, flowing quite. Unfortunately, it has scruffy
:27:28. > :27:38.leaves, but why not follow this hint and took the bulbs into another
:27:38. > :27:50.
:27:50. > :27:56.plant that covers the ground and We can opt for wildflowers as nature
:27:56. > :28:01.intended. Or if we prefer, we can go for their cultivated cousins.
:28:01. > :28:09.Bright, brilliant, flamboyant. The point is, as gardeners, we have the
:28:09. > :28:15.choice. We have been looking at cutting edge
:28:15. > :28:20.things today. This is a cutting edge material, a difference in Schmeichel
:28:20. > :28:25.a mix between swine and wall, they have done it in Chelsea pensioners
:28:25. > :28:30.colours, it is �3 50, and the money goes to their appeal. That is all we
:28:30. > :28:36.have time for today. We will be back at 8pm on BBC Two, with more cutting
:28:36. > :28:39.edge Chelsea. If you cannot wait until then, you can press the red