:00:32. > :00:35.Hello and welcome to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
:00:36. > :00:42.The wait is finally over as this year's exhibitors and designers find
:00:43. > :00:53.Ending what could have been months of work.
:00:54. > :00:56.It's been a day of high emotion across the showground as they
:00:57. > :00:58.discover if all their tireless hard work and the sleepless
:00:59. > :01:08.Obviously we speculate having seen the gardens about what medals they
:01:09. > :01:13.will get but obviously it is there or thereabouts. The judges have been
:01:14. > :01:17.pretty fair. One or two anomalies, no doubt, there always is. We are
:01:18. > :01:25.talking today about the gardens on the large show garden area. Six
:01:26. > :01:30.golds this year. I think that is about right. That is to be discussed
:01:31. > :01:35.but there or thereabouts. The balance is right. You might nit-pick
:01:36. > :01:39.on one or two. Yes, we like to predict and now it has all gone.
:01:40. > :01:42.Anyway. We will be talking about them for the rest of the week.
:01:43. > :01:44.On tonight's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, an event supported by M
:01:45. > :01:49.Investments we'll be bringing you all the key results
:01:50. > :01:52.from the large Show Gardens along with in-depth analysis and opinion
:01:53. > :01:55.Plus - I'll be revealing which of this year's
:01:56. > :01:58.has won the RHS 2016 Best Show Garden.
:01:59. > :02:01.And don't forget there's our own competition to find out
:02:02. > :02:07.which of our team here have predicted the Best Show Garden
:02:08. > :02:11.And we'll be welcoming tonight's special guest,
:02:12. > :02:21.a journalist who spent most of her career reporting from war
:02:22. > :02:23.zones, so a visit to Chelsea is an easier mission!
:02:24. > :02:27.Yesterday we saw the judges inspecting all the gardens and then
:02:28. > :02:29.heading off to deliberate on this year's medals results.
:02:30. > :02:32.Well, this morning their decisions were finally released to the world.
:02:33. > :02:35.Early risers James Wong and Nicki Chapman were on hand
:02:36. > :02:42.to capture all the excitement as it happened.
:02:43. > :02:48.It's certainly an early start today. I'm sure that the designers and
:02:49. > :02:53.exhibitors didn't get a wink of sleep because it is medals day. Up
:02:54. > :03:01.at the crack of dawn. I will see you later. This is Matthew Wilson, it's
:03:02. > :03:07.his second Chelsea garden. He got the silver last year. I wonder what
:03:08. > :03:12.it will be. Silver medal. I'm these play everyone who has been involved,
:03:13. > :03:20.it's been a fantastic team effort for all of Yorkshire. Were you going
:03:21. > :03:24.for gold? Of course we were. This is Sam, one of the youngest designers
:03:25. > :03:33.ever. I am over the moon. Really chuffed. This is James Basson.
:03:34. > :03:42.Congratulations. Yes! What are you going to do for the rest of the day?
:03:43. > :03:50.I'm going to bed! We're on the hunt to see if we can find Mick Foley,
:03:51. > :03:53.his first ever Chelsea garden, he has come out with some really
:03:54. > :04:03.unusual planting. Congratulations. Thank you. Well done, silvergilt. I
:04:04. > :04:08.know the reasons we didn't get gold, so there is motivation to go even
:04:09. > :04:19.harder next time. Cleve West is one of my all-time garden design heroes.
:04:20. > :04:27.He has won five golds. I am nervous for you. Don't string it out. Gold
:04:28. > :04:39.medal. Thank you. I think it is the best garden I've ever done here. How
:04:40. > :04:43.are you feeling, Jo? I don't think I can speak. OK, I will hold your
:04:44. > :04:48.hand. Jo Thompson has been here eight times and describes Chelsea as
:04:49. > :05:01.a mountain to climb. Congratulations. I got a gold! Huge
:05:02. > :05:09.congratulations. You have loved your week at Chelsea. It was a painful
:05:10. > :05:12.build... But it has been worth it. It's been worth it. Tears of joy!
:05:13. > :05:18.Thank you. Exciting stuff. Earlier Monty and I went to take
:05:19. > :05:22.a detailed look at two of this year's gold-medal-winning gardens
:05:23. > :05:25.to find out why they epitomise the very best
:05:26. > :05:36.in garden design this year. This is the Morgan Stanley Garden
:05:37. > :05:43.for great Allman is the designed by Chris Beardshaw and it was awarded a
:05:44. > :05:49.gold medal. -- great Ormond. It has a specific brief, it is for a second
:05:50. > :05:53.story roof and it has a home. It will be lifted lock, stock and
:05:54. > :05:59.barrel and put onto the roof of the hospital. It has a specific purpose.
:06:00. > :06:03.It is designed for families, particularly parents, do have a
:06:04. > :06:07.quiet, reflective space. Having a sick child is an enormously
:06:08. > :06:11.stressful thing and this is somewhere where they can heal
:06:12. > :06:15.momentarily if nothing else. The planting has to reflect that spirit
:06:16. > :06:19.and the situation, surrounded by tall buildings, it is essentially
:06:20. > :06:33.woodland, calm greens and plans that can adapt. There are Ferns and even
:06:34. > :06:39.a tulip tree. It will cope in woodland positions, urban, and yet
:06:40. > :06:45.when you are here it is calm and beautiful, and there's a real sense
:06:46. > :06:56.of positive energy that will heal and consoled. I'm here on Jo
:06:57. > :07:05.Thompson's garden. Jo you got a gold! I know. The elusive gold
:07:06. > :07:08.medal. I know. I'm so delighted because it was a really complicated
:07:09. > :07:15.garden with a lot of teamwork behind it. You know, we got it! You've been
:07:16. > :07:23.here so many times and this is your first gold at Chelsea. You've done
:07:24. > :07:27.it. For a show garden. Your garden looks so simple and elegant, the
:07:28. > :07:35.curves all come together. But boy is it complicated? I have stood here on
:07:36. > :07:42.site saying, who designed this ridiculous shape? That will beat
:07:43. > :07:47.you! It is so complicated. Curves and points, really hard. It's meant
:07:48. > :07:52.to be a simple garden, but all of the complicated detail that goes
:07:53. > :07:56.into it makes it so wonderful. The water comes down and keeps moving
:07:57. > :08:01.through here, and the shape of the benches, I love them, they are so
:08:02. > :08:07.elegant. Beautiful. I have to say, the whole garden is fantastic. I
:08:08. > :08:10.love the sculptures, too. Hang on a minute, every year you say, I'm
:08:11. > :08:18.never coming back and you've been here every year for the past how
:08:19. > :08:22.many years? Next year when you can bring back your gold will you be
:08:23. > :08:28.here? I keep saying I will never do it again, it's not about the medals,
:08:29. > :08:32.someone asked me why I keep doing it and it's because I really love
:08:33. > :08:36.making gardens. What is the poll of Chelsea? It gives you a chance to
:08:37. > :08:41.make a garden that hopefully people will like and I really just love
:08:42. > :08:45.doing that. I have a funny feeling we will see you again soon.
:08:46. > :08:53.Congratulations, the judges loved it. Well done, Jo. Thank you.
:08:54. > :08:56.Joining us in the hot seat to decipher those medal
:08:57. > :09:00.decisions is RHS judge, James Alexander Sinclair.
:09:01. > :09:07.James, we have had this sort of discussion before and I promised not
:09:08. > :09:13.to be too rough with you! I can take it. Bring it on. Four gardens that
:09:14. > :09:21.were clearly likely to be gold medals, Chris Beardshaw, Cleve West,
:09:22. > :09:28.James Basson and Andrew Sturgeon. However there were one or two more
:09:29. > :09:32.that were surprising, for example, I would not automatically have put
:09:33. > :09:36.Paul Martin's garden in that bracket. Why was that a gold medal?
:09:37. > :09:41.As you know fully well they are judged in the same way, we have nine
:09:42. > :09:45.criteria and we go through and we are looking for points, we have a
:09:46. > :09:49.points -based system. If you get to a certain level you get a gold
:09:50. > :09:53.medal. The reason why you think what you think is because his design was
:09:54. > :09:58.much simpler, clearer and easier to do than some of the others. You
:09:59. > :10:01.build it beautifully and have a simple design that works and follows
:10:02. > :10:07.the brief and those sorts of things, you tick all the right boxes. Going
:10:08. > :10:12.into specifics, you know the photo on the back wall, the view over
:10:13. > :10:16.Westminster Bridge, will that gain him or lose him points? I don't
:10:17. > :10:20.quite understand that as far as the design is concerned. It is part of
:10:21. > :10:26.the design. You are just talking about whether you like it or not. We
:10:27. > :10:32.are talking about the quality of the design. Is that OK? That's his style
:10:33. > :10:41.and that's the way he wants to do it. Does that mean I gardens that
:10:42. > :10:47.got silvergilt like you go bug -- like Hugo and Charlie, they may look
:10:48. > :10:54.at that and think, what do we have to do? How close was that? You have
:10:55. > :10:59.to build a good garden to get a gold medal, it is that simple. You just
:11:00. > :11:06.have two tick the boxes? Obviously we take your point. How fine the
:11:07. > :11:10.margins? How close are they? If you think of the gold medal as a high
:11:11. > :11:17.jump bar, if you jump just below or just above, that little tiny
:11:18. > :11:21.narrowband is all that matters. I guess you just have to get over the
:11:22. > :11:29.line. It's half an inch. This will run and run, I can see. Even
:11:30. > :11:33.established names have to manage expectations. As Matthew Wilson
:11:34. > :11:38.discovered when his garden last year just missed out on the top honours.
:11:39. > :11:44.He is now back with a vary and be as design.
:11:45. > :11:52.Last year was my first Chelsea, doing my first garden anyway. I was
:11:53. > :11:55.completely unprepared for how intense the experience was. Even
:11:56. > :12:05.though I said to myself, this will be tough. I got a silvergilt medal.
:12:06. > :12:11.And that the time, that moment of getting the medal, it felt like a
:12:12. > :12:19.disappointment. I was hoping for more. The strange thing was, right
:12:20. > :12:22.at that moment, and within a few minutes afterwards I thought, this
:12:23. > :12:29.is ridiculous, why would anyone want to do this again? Within about three
:12:30. > :12:36.or four hours I was like, maybe... And that is the addictive quality.
:12:37. > :12:40.It's not about the medals, strangely enough, it's about you pitting
:12:41. > :12:43.yourself against your own abilities and stretching yourself and seeing
:12:44. > :12:46.what you can do and what you can achieve, with all of the pressures
:12:47. > :12:56.that go with it. That's why we do it. This year I'm doing a garden for
:12:57. > :13:02.all of the county of Yorkshire. The attraction is that it's a landscape
:13:03. > :13:08.that I absolutely adore. I never get bored. I think you can't get bored
:13:09. > :13:15.because it's so diverse from epic stuff right the way down to really
:13:16. > :13:19.intimate landscapes. It's got everything, really. You can't take
:13:20. > :13:24.this landscape and stick it into a 22 by 12 metre plot in Chelsea, but
:13:25. > :13:29.you can be an spired by the elements of the water, stone, plants, trees,
:13:30. > :13:36.try to get something of that rugged nature into the garden.
:13:37. > :13:43.It's not just about the landscape or the gardens of Yorkshire that have
:13:44. > :13:49.inspired the Chelsea garden, it's this, the great East window at York
:13:50. > :13:58.Minster, the largest expanse of medieval glass in Britain. What I
:13:59. > :14:01.find incredible about eight -- it and so inspiring is the way the
:14:02. > :14:07.glass and the light interact and the way it changes through the day. In
:14:08. > :14:14.the same way, that light changes garden through the of the day.
:14:15. > :14:24.The garden is effectively the arch of the window laid on its side, so I
:14:25. > :14:28.exploded all of the elements and reconfigured them in a different
:14:29. > :14:31.way. The planting in a way has been the biggest challenge and I've tried
:14:32. > :14:36.to think, how can I get the landscape of the gardens of
:14:37. > :14:39.Yorkshire across in the planting? I have taken the shape and size of
:14:40. > :14:45.individual windows and laid them on the ground with a stone edge, and
:14:46. > :14:49.then into those stone windows I have effectively planted plants that will
:14:50. > :14:53.represent the colours of the stained glass in the planting. That's the
:14:54. > :15:00.plan, anyway. I've gone for plants that have got hopefully quite a lot
:15:01. > :15:04.of character, rather than being pristine and they are a bit more
:15:05. > :15:13.gnarly and craggy and a bit more... Yorkshire!
:15:14. > :15:21.Capturing something on this scale is a massive challenge for Chelsea
:15:22. > :15:25.garden. You are effectively scaling everything down, but you have got to
:15:26. > :15:32.give it the sense of something big and impressive, so we are making a
:15:33. > :15:42.modern vocation of the great is window in the shape of a glass
:15:43. > :15:45.window panel which the Yorkshire makers trust are making cover which
:15:46. > :15:52.will be big, if not quite as big as that. It will be unlike anything
:15:53. > :15:57.people have seen before at Chelsea. I'm very nervous about it. I would
:15:58. > :16:01.be stupid not to be nervous about it, but I'm aware that many people
:16:02. > :16:07.have spent a lot of time and energy and effort helping me to make this
:16:08. > :16:10.garden happen. I'm definitely nervous about it. It is a big thing,
:16:11. > :16:26.isn't it? It is a big thing. Matthew, it is a big thing, this is
:16:27. > :16:33.the biggest show garden. It is. My knees know every inch of it. You
:16:34. > :16:39.have a silver medal, how do you feel? I feel fine. Garden on this
:16:40. > :16:44.care with so many components, very intensive, it is a risky garden, and
:16:45. > :16:51.be more risks you take, the more risk there is of things not going
:16:52. > :16:59.right. Has it put you off? Has it heck? That is the spirit. You have
:17:00. > :17:05.flattened this site. Once upon a time it was a bank. I wanted these
:17:06. > :17:08.two distinct levels because the theme is the great East window at
:17:09. > :17:13.York Minster and I wanted people to be able to look up to the window.
:17:14. > :17:18.Down here you have the planting which references the windows. You
:17:19. > :17:22.also have your fantastic windows which are lit behind, even in
:17:23. > :17:32.daylight they really shine. Very contemporary. The York lasers trust
:17:33. > :17:36.-- glaziers trust has said this is a contemporary window, and they have
:17:37. > :17:41.the same colours in these windows as in the great East window, using the
:17:42. > :17:46.same glass. There are great confections, movements and ripples,
:17:47. > :17:52.and that contributes to the way the light moves through the glass. I saw
:17:53. > :17:57.them in the evening, they are stunning. You have what you people
:17:58. > :18:06.involved? We have at help from around Yorkshire, from York Minster
:18:07. > :18:17.and businesses around the county, timber supplies in Sheffield. Helper
:18:18. > :18:23.heroes? They were brilliant. -- Help For Heroes? They did some of the
:18:24. > :18:32.Labour in the garden. And this, I made this specifically, I threatened
:18:33. > :18:38.to send it up to Catterick. It is a big hit with the visitors, lovely to
:18:39. > :18:41.see you. Thank you very much. Tonight our special guest is Kate
:18:42. > :18:45.Adie. She became one of the best-known
:18:46. > :18:48.faces on television reporting But what's less known about this
:18:49. > :18:51.formidable journalist is her passion for gardening,
:18:52. > :19:05.which became the perfect antidote Have you always loved gardening?
:19:06. > :19:08.This was an antidote? I had a childhood in which we had a garden,
:19:09. > :19:15.rather staid and formal, the rose bed was there, the catalogue came
:19:16. > :19:21.every year, it was like the tablets from Moses, so important, and also
:19:22. > :19:26.rather boring. I was interested in flowers and I remember the names
:19:27. > :19:31.will stop I have found the time in my working life when I was away, I
:19:32. > :19:34.lived in places without a garden, and I realised when I finished
:19:35. > :19:46.reporting that I would rather like one. So I found a little house. The
:19:47. > :19:50.area around it, I had not even used the word garden, it was concrete and
:19:51. > :19:58.brambles, that was the start of it, I thought, what can I create? Are
:19:59. > :20:01.you a hands-on gardener? I weed and prune, those are my virtues,
:20:02. > :20:09.everything in between is a bit vague. Propagating and planting out,
:20:10. > :20:15.I'm still learning. I love to weed. If anyone needs some space, there is
:20:16. > :20:21.me. I don't have the great knowledge. Leave a garden to sign in
:20:22. > :20:31.your family, and I had, Jonathan is married to my niece -- you need a
:20:32. > :20:35.garden designer in your family. So he put in the shakes, rounded and
:20:36. > :20:44.gentle, he produced the garden. -- shapes. You talk your plants, you
:20:45. > :21:00.encourage them? Yes. Not long conversations but I was looking at
:21:01. > :21:05.the calamitous Clementi 's and I gave it a talking to. If you were
:21:06. > :21:17.having a word with me, I was stopped dead in my tracks. Work. -- it has
:21:18. > :21:29.not worked. Because there is a tiny stream at the edge of my garden,
:21:30. > :21:36.they get burial at sea. Right, OK. I heard that you are not amused by the
:21:37. > :21:45.amount of gardens which have to have a message or a journey, something
:21:46. > :21:50.they are supporting and selling. I think the garden is a thing of joy,
:21:51. > :22:26.an expression of you, it is the That's what I like what I garden
:22:27. > :22:33.should be. Go out there and I'm what you like stop the
:22:34. > :22:40.we will see what those results are like with great fascination. I can't
:22:41. > :22:43.wait. Still to come tonight we'll be
:22:44. > :22:46.revealing the recipient of Chelsea's biggest prize -
:22:47. > :22:48.the Best Show garden 2016. And we'll discover which of our
:22:49. > :23:01.presenting team have Look what I found in the corner of
:23:02. > :23:10.the Great Pavilion. Sophie has sealed it, head girl. She would
:23:11. > :23:13.have. Interesting. We will reveal those later on.
:23:14. > :23:15.There are 103 exhibitors in the Great Pavilion,
:23:16. > :23:18.all of them showing the absolute best of their chosen plant group.
:23:19. > :23:23.Best known for exhibiting his gold medal winning peonies,
:23:24. > :23:25.in recent years he's been increasing in demand to grow plants
:23:26. > :23:32.This year he's sourcing and growing plants for seven show gardens
:23:33. > :23:47.and he's the first to admit it's not an easy mission.
:23:48. > :23:55.My name is Dave Root and I'm the owner of this nurse arena in
:23:56. > :24:01.Somerset. I started when I wish 13. I have been in the nursery business
:24:02. > :24:06.ever since, over 30 years now. We first started growing plants for
:24:07. > :24:10.other Chelsea garden is in 2008 when we were approached by Andy Sturgeon.
:24:11. > :24:17.We were asked to grow the things that no one else wanted to touch. We
:24:18. > :24:24.have 39 days to supply over 25,000 plants to seven different Chelsea
:24:25. > :24:31.Flower Show gardens. This is one of our main growing tunnels, this is
:24:32. > :24:34.the hothouse. It is about 10 degrees minimum to try and bring on some of
:24:35. > :24:43.the plants which are a bit slow at the moment. We are growing for James
:24:44. > :24:51.Bass on, quite a spread. One of the interesting plants is this one. It's
:24:52. > :24:57.also called the chicken wire plant. The effect of these leaves made it
:24:58. > :25:04.look like chicken wire. Our speciality is plants from a
:25:05. > :25:11.particular location. One of the craziest plants we are sowing, it is
:25:12. > :25:18.coming from New Zealand. It has this rigid spiny leaves. We deal with
:25:19. > :25:25.Japan, Australia. Not much we can't find. The challenge of doing so is
:25:26. > :25:31.what excites me. There is a lot of big trees this year. It is a new
:25:32. > :25:42.thing for us. These came yesterday from Germany.
:25:43. > :25:51.The brief I had on the street, I needed to find one. We have got this
:25:52. > :25:59.for the Japanese guys at Chelsea, a monster, about 50 years old. We are
:26:00. > :26:06.a pretty small nursery, really. Nine guys here and we have about ten - 12
:26:07. > :26:11.locations. Gary manages them and they are a great bunch of people. We
:26:12. > :26:18.have had beautiful sunshine, things flowering. We have put them into a
:26:19. > :26:23.cooler climate to make sure they are on target for the show. I remember
:26:24. > :26:31.the enormity of what we are doing, but somehow it works out in the end.
:26:32. > :26:35.Gary and I have a close working relationship, every day we will walk
:26:36. > :26:40.the entire nursery first thing in the morning and look at every plant
:26:41. > :26:52.for every job for every designer. The most challenging plant we have
:26:53. > :27:00.this year are loopingLupins, they are nightmares. Gary goes up to
:27:01. > :27:08.London, it is a 24-hour seven-day week job, it is crazy. We missing
:27:09. > :27:16.here. But he is now based in London. -- we miss him here. In the borough
:27:17. > :27:25.Chelsea everyone gets a bit pent up and crazy, but the plants come and
:27:26. > :27:29.that is what people care about. It is midday and I've had 27 phone
:27:30. > :27:34.calls and my phone is on its second charge, and my clients get more
:27:35. > :27:41.stressed the closer to the show. It is our job to manage them and say,
:27:42. > :27:48.is OK and we know what we are doing. Don't worry about it. It is
:27:49. > :27:53.incredibly full on at this time of the year. Constant things going
:27:54. > :28:04.around in your head. We don't talk about failure. It is not an option.
:28:05. > :28:11.This is the mathematics garden, you supplied many of these plants? That
:28:12. > :28:19.is right. We supplied many of the trees. The diversity of plants is
:28:20. > :28:25.extraordinary. It was a challenge. Even more so because we only joined
:28:26. > :28:29.the project in January, so we did not have the eight months we
:28:30. > :28:34.normally have. You enjoyed the challenge? I love getting a plant
:28:35. > :28:42.list, and we thing, where are we going to go next. Much of it is
:28:43. > :28:48.plant hunting. That is right. You go all over Europe. You know the people
:28:49. > :28:57.who are in the know all over Europe. Absolutely. We went to Germany,
:28:58. > :29:02.Belgium twice, Italy, Spain, Sicily, picking up a few key plants, each
:29:03. > :29:10.one vital to the garden. You are horticulturalists. You need to know
:29:11. > :29:16.what is vital. It is also about Chelsea quality. That is right. You
:29:17. > :29:21.have got to say you have a beautiful one of those. You have got to see
:29:22. > :29:27.it, and that is what makes the job so time-consuming. Yes, you have got
:29:28. > :29:33.to see it personally. Do you do most of your business through Chelsea?
:29:34. > :29:42.Our nursery is really did around Chelsea. And inside? You have a
:29:43. > :29:48.silvergilt. Yes, it is a silvergilt club this year. Lovely to see you,
:29:49. > :29:56.Dave. Keep on supplying the great plants. Thank you.
:29:57. > :29:59.I have found myself in northern Provence.
:30:00. > :30:01.I'm here with James Basson on his L'Occitane Garden
:30:02. > :30:04.which is another garden Dave Root has supplied plants for.
:30:05. > :30:17.You won the gold medal. Thank you very much. You were helped by Dave
:30:18. > :30:21.route in sourcing the plants? Yes, L'Occitane gave us a chance to get
:30:22. > :30:25.in early to collect seeds and he has been growing them and his team have
:30:26. > :30:29.been extraordinarily brilliant. The garden is wonderful but I've heard
:30:30. > :30:35.people say, and you must have heard them say this too, it is similar to
:30:36. > :30:40.last year's. Are you just repeating what you're good at? For me it is a
:30:41. > :30:44.study of the landscape each time and these landscapes have a tone and
:30:45. > :30:47.texture. People react to the tone and texture especially when they
:30:48. > :30:52.walked down Main Avenue to see this bright flush and brown and slightly
:30:53. > :30:56.dry garden and they think it's the same as last year but if you look
:30:57. > :31:04.closely, it's a complete study of a different part of southern France.
:31:05. > :31:11.Northern Provence. We are sweeping with too broad a brush? We just had
:31:12. > :31:17.to pay more attention to detail? If you look in Yorkshire there are 12
:31:18. > :31:23.or 15 different landscapes. The detail is remarkable. Any particular
:31:24. > :31:27.thing that has proved difficult or problematic? Err... The real
:31:28. > :31:33.difficulty was the complexity. 200 species of plant and the way we
:31:34. > :31:38.manage that was spinning personalities through the garden,
:31:39. > :31:42.the girls put in filigree and then more characterful people putting in
:31:43. > :31:48.some polish. We have this spin off personalities. It is interesting
:31:49. > :31:52.that people's personality comes through in the planting. It was my
:31:53. > :32:00.wife's favourite garden and I know that the crowds loved it. Thank you
:32:01. > :32:05.very much. Thank you, Monty. Huge congratulations to James. Two golds
:32:06. > :32:07.in a row and a beautiful garden this year.
:32:08. > :32:09.Now the cross pollination of ideas and talent between the gardens
:32:10. > :32:12.and the Great Pavilion continues this year with the coming together
:32:13. > :32:22.In a Chelsea first, record-breaking nursery Hillier's have this year
:32:23. > :32:26.decided to collaborate on their exhibit with
:32:27. > :32:28.multi-gold-winning show garden designer Sarah Eberle to create,
:32:29. > :32:36.what's effectively, a garden inside the Great Pavilion.
:32:37. > :32:41.We caught up with superwoman Sarah as she took on the challenge.
:32:42. > :32:49.In a garden, the design has to be excellent and the plants have to be
:32:50. > :32:53.very good indeed. Within the pavilion it's the other way round,
:32:54. > :33:04.the plants have to be excellent and the design has to be very good. I'm
:33:05. > :33:08.quite a seasoned exhibitor at Chelsea, and I have fortunately a
:33:09. > :33:12.gold in every category of garden, I've never done a pavilion before
:33:13. > :33:19.and if I can achieve with Hillier a gold medal this year I will have the
:33:20. > :33:24.whole clutch of medals. We've been exhibiting at Chelsea for over 100
:33:25. > :33:29.years, and in that time we've run 70 gold medals consecutively which is
:33:30. > :33:33.every year since World War II. We have always been on the monument
:33:34. > :33:37.stage except for a few years so it's all change this year, this is a
:33:38. > :33:43.departure from the monument. In some ways the decision wasn't ours so we
:33:44. > :33:47.have to rethink things. It's one of the biggest exhibits in the floral
:33:48. > :33:51.section which is presented as a garden and in fact I can't remember
:33:52. > :33:58.any in my history at Chelsea, two and a half, three and a half
:33:59. > :34:01.thousand plants, a big pond with 22,000 litres of water, the trees
:34:02. > :34:10.are huge and everything about the garden is big. This is the cold
:34:11. > :34:17.store, the secret weapon. I'm here to meet Ricky, the main plant. I'm
:34:18. > :34:22.hoping for a bit of excitement. -- planter. I can't deny that part of
:34:23. > :34:27.me is a traditionalist, but the design that Sarah has come up with I
:34:28. > :34:31.think it is great, I really am looking forward to it and I think
:34:32. > :34:39.hopefully, hopefully the plants material will justify her design.
:34:40. > :34:43.Gosh! The stock on the right hopefully is in the right mode to
:34:44. > :34:48.come out of here and go to Chelsea. Yes. The cherries are a different
:34:49. > :34:54.ball game, they are asleep at the moment. The role of the cold store
:34:55. > :35:03.is to put the plants in check. So it slows down the flowering, slows down
:35:04. > :35:09.Billy think -- slows down the leafing process. This will be my
:35:10. > :35:16.51st Chelsea, I gather it is the Queen's51st as well. 102 between us!
:35:17. > :35:29.These plants will peak for Chelsea. I can't wait to get them there.
:35:30. > :35:36.Here we are at Chelsea, really excited. Tempered by the fact I had
:35:37. > :35:40.the most terrible phone call from Ricky to say the cold store is
:35:41. > :35:44.broken and can't be mended, he is not too worried, but the doors are
:35:45. > :35:49.remaining firmly closed and my fingers are crossed. We have the
:35:50. > :35:54.pavilion going up at the moment, we have to get it aligned with the edge
:35:55. > :35:57.of the garden so the steps are in. It's so exciting seeing it, it's a
:35:58. > :36:08.lovely building and it beautifully frames the garden. One of the issues
:36:09. > :36:12.is light, you don't get any shadows in here so you have two really
:36:13. > :36:16.design that in. We have lighting in this garden which we will use even
:36:17. > :36:20.in the daytime to just tried to create some of the depth of shadow
:36:21. > :36:23.that you get outside. That will be quite a challenge and I'm still not
:36:24. > :36:30.sure how successful that is going to be.
:36:31. > :36:39.Good news! Ricky says that the cherries are the best they've ever
:36:40. > :36:50.been and he thinks it is really good news. Watch the top of the marquee!
:36:51. > :36:55.There, they are in. I'm so relieved that the cherries are in. When they
:36:56. > :37:00.fully burst, wow, that is going to be some impact. I'm so pleased, it
:37:01. > :37:11.is going to be wonderful. A great time to come to Chelsea.
:37:12. > :37:20.And I'm here on Sarah's garden with her now. Hillier's Opta today had 70
:37:21. > :37:29.consecutive gold medals, what did you get? Gold! Of course you did. It
:37:30. > :37:34.is stunning. Beautiful. The pressure must have been immense? Absolutely,
:37:35. > :37:37.more relief than elation at the moment, there was a lot of
:37:38. > :37:41.expectation and pressure. It's only at the point of judging that you
:37:42. > :37:48.realise the potential for tears and slip-ups. When I looked at your
:37:49. > :37:53.exhibit, it had gold medal written all over it for me. It now means
:37:54. > :37:59.that you have a gold medal in every single garden category. The first
:38:00. > :38:05.ever. I do? I can hardly believe it myself! To achieve a gold medal with
:38:06. > :38:11.the Flora in the grand Pavilion, it is every designer's dream because
:38:12. > :38:19.it's all about the plans. Stunning exhibit. -- plants. This is 22
:38:20. > :38:23.metres by 12, so it is bigger than the general Main Avenue Gardens, so
:38:24. > :38:28.that is a big space to take on. Is there a story behind it? When
:38:29. > :38:32.Hillier's came off the monument, with a new design, they had had the
:38:33. > :38:36.same designer for 25 years and I knew that I could not just equip
:38:37. > :38:43.what they'd been doing, I needed to put my own stamp on it and not try
:38:44. > :38:47.to emulate anybody else. Hillier's is such traditional company. I
:38:48. > :38:52.wanted to take that tradition of the landscape tradition and the pavilion
:38:53. > :38:55.and grottoes and water features and cascades and woodlands, and take
:38:56. > :39:00.that into a contemporary setting to show Hillier the modern world. You
:39:01. > :39:07.have had to take all of these plants and this is not the way you would
:39:08. > :39:10.normally do this garden. What a combination, you and Ricky. You
:39:11. > :39:14.haven't let him down and he certainly hasn't let you down. A
:39:15. > :39:19.winning team, I'd say. Lovely to see you. Well done. Very well done to
:39:20. > :39:22.Sarah. We'll be looking in depth
:39:23. > :39:24.at more results from Whilst much of the attention today
:39:25. > :39:28.is being lavished on this year's medal-winning designers let's not
:39:29. > :39:31.forgot the real stars out there on Main Avenue -
:39:32. > :39:40.the plants and flowers. Carol's been to select the plants
:39:41. > :39:43.that she believes have played a major part in helping
:39:44. > :39:50.the designers win gold. Plants are a hugely important
:39:51. > :39:56.element in every garden design and every designer has their own way and
:39:57. > :40:06.their own ideas about using plants. In Hugo Bugg's garden there are
:40:07. > :40:18.spots of colours, non-better than this poppy surrounded by the bold
:40:19. > :40:21.grass. It is brilliant. In the Garden of Mindful Living you really
:40:22. > :40:29.are lulled into a restful date. By this beautiful clothes coloured
:40:30. > :40:35.planting. -- restful state. It has purple flowers. Paul has taken the
:40:36. > :40:40.flowers off here because he wants this sort of colour combination to
:40:41. > :40:46.be unsullied by anything else. Here in the background this beautiful
:40:47. > :40:51.Dutch chocolate, actually picks up those colours. And the crowning
:40:52. > :40:58.glory of the whole ensemble is this iris. Kent Pride, nothing like the
:40:59. > :41:02.blatant ones that are scattered through the show, it is very subtle.
:41:03. > :41:10.It sets the scene for the whole beautiful planting.
:41:11. > :41:20.Sometimes it pays to be bold with colours. In Rosie Hardy's garden, in
:41:21. > :41:24.this one piece she has three primary colours, red, brilliant yellow, and
:41:25. > :41:27.a blue geranium and rather than mingling them together she has made
:41:28. > :41:33.the most of them being completely separate. They are all planted in
:41:34. > :41:37.blocks, surrounded by this grey and green will stop it really works very
:41:38. > :41:48.effectively. They draw your attention, and yet they are really
:41:49. > :41:52.easy to accept. In Jekka McVicar's Modern Apothecary Garden there is a
:41:53. > :41:56.huge assortment of all sorts of herbs and medicinal plants. But
:41:57. > :42:04.every so often there's one plants that stands out on its own, and such
:42:05. > :42:13.plants is this Angelica. We know it as Angelica, it's a thing whose
:42:14. > :42:16.stems can be Candide. It makes the most superb one-off plant, it is
:42:17. > :42:20.straightforward to grow, you can grow it from seed and it won't
:42:21. > :42:24.plough until its third year and after that it will set seed and die
:42:25. > :42:29.but by then you will have all those seeds to start all over again.
:42:30. > :42:33.Looking at the gardens here at Chelsea, an event
:42:34. > :42:35.supported by M Investments, is like flicking through the pages
:42:36. > :42:39.of a glossy magazine - take this stunning garden
:42:40. > :42:42.by Sam Ovens, which won him a silver gilt medal.
:42:43. > :42:45.We all dream of achieving the same at home, but sadly most of us don't
:42:46. > :42:48.have the money or the space to make it a reality,
:42:49. > :42:51.particularly if we live in urban areas.
:42:52. > :42:57.However accessible ideas can be found in many of this year's medal
:42:58. > :42:59.winning urban garden designs as Toby Buckland has been
:43:00. > :43:14.One of the reasons the gardens look so picture perfect is that we filmed
:43:15. > :43:19.them in perfect isolation from the crowds, the clamour, and the cameras
:43:20. > :43:22.of Main Avenue. But what always strikes me when I walk into the
:43:23. > :43:27.garden is that despite their busy location and the fact that they are
:43:28. > :43:31.the most overlooked gardens on the planet, is that they have a sense of
:43:32. > :43:38.calm, almost privacy. That's down to the designers' genius and using
:43:39. > :43:41.tricks that you can copy in your garden at home. Charlie Albone has
:43:42. > :43:46.created an urban retreat which has the sense of seclusion thanks to the
:43:47. > :43:51.sunken lawn with box hedging around the outside and a phalanx of opium
:43:52. > :43:56.poppies on the edges. Sinking a lawn takes muscle but it need not cost
:43:57. > :44:00.money. You can buy thousands of poppies for a pound. The wonderful
:44:01. > :44:04.thing about being low is that when you have a picnic in the summer you
:44:05. > :44:11.can be out of sight from the glare of the neighbours. As well as the
:44:12. > :44:17.levels under your feet what's above your head is also important. A
:44:18. > :44:21.pergola is an easy way to add instant height and give even a new
:44:22. > :44:28.garden and established look. This one, is obviously a cut above what
:44:29. > :44:33.you will buy at the local garden centre but it works the same way, I
:44:34. > :44:39.can see the blue sky between the slats, but it creates a cosy feel,
:44:40. > :44:42.an outdoor room inside an outdoor room, somewhere that's comfortable
:44:43. > :44:47.and intimate enough to put a table and eat a meal. More importantly it
:44:48. > :44:49.also gives space to grow climbers that in a small garden you might not
:44:50. > :45:00.otherwise have. Another feature that distinguishes
:45:01. > :45:04.Chelsea gardens from the run-of-the-mill is of course the
:45:05. > :45:08.positioning of the Borders. This is Paul Martin's garden and you notice
:45:09. > :45:12.that his flowers and foliage is in the centre and there's good reason
:45:13. > :45:16.for that, normally you get a garden with grass at the centre and then
:45:17. > :45:21.borders and flowers the edge. I'm sure that is familiar. But
:45:22. > :45:26.designwise it's not always a good idea, by putting trees around the
:45:27. > :45:32.edge they create privacy and you are using space that is often difficult
:45:33. > :45:35.to plant because it is so shady. By having borders in the middle you
:45:36. > :45:40.have an advantage as special in urban areas with low light levels.
:45:41. > :45:41.Plants get more sun and they can be backlit by the light which makes
:45:42. > :45:53.them look which perfect, too. This is rather a different garden.
:45:54. > :46:07.The reason this not be in the busy city. But this is the model
:46:08. > :46:15.apothecary garden. It has proven that gardening is beneficial for
:46:16. > :46:22.mental and physical health. Someone who has had varies of this is Mark.
:46:23. > :46:28.-- someone who has had experience of this is Mark. This is a good story,
:46:29. > :46:33.but this did not start well. 15 years ago I was in a car accident
:46:34. > :46:39.with spina bifida complications and I ended up in a wheelchair. I was in
:46:40. > :46:46.publishing beforehand. Travelling up to London. Over ten years of long
:46:47. > :46:57.rehabilitation I started to read about gardening and enjoy gardening
:46:58. > :47:01.and we to -- moved to Kent, it is the experience of being out life in
:47:02. > :47:06.the garden and being able to get your fingers dirty and picking up
:47:07. > :47:13.plants and looking at plants, and understanding how plants grow and
:47:14. > :47:18.how that has a real benefit cognitively and emotionally and
:47:19. > :47:26.visually and physically. Mentally and socially, I can see. As it
:47:27. > :47:40.physically help your health? It has. To the fourth were I can turn -- to
:47:41. > :47:47.the point where I can turn there are limitations, but it has stopped me
:47:48. > :47:54.to a certain extent. You are designing gardens? Yes, I am, for
:47:55. > :48:00.disabled people and non-disabled people. It is important to get the
:48:01. > :48:05.message across that disability and gardening and conditions of
:48:06. > :48:15.gardening, even, it does so much for you. You are going to look around
:48:16. > :48:21.Chelsea and pick the exhibits and plants. I know one day you would
:48:22. > :48:26.like to exhibit a garden here. I certainly do. Hopefully I can report
:48:27. > :48:33.on it, but we will see you on Friday.
:48:34. > :48:35.Earlier we caught up with journalist Kate Adie
:48:36. > :48:37.and discovered her new found passion for plants.
:48:38. > :48:39.Time now to see what headline-grabbing exhibits she chose
:48:40. > :49:12.But, -- sneer at the common box. It is gorgeous. It shows you what
:49:13. > :49:18.plants can be like when you put them in the right place. My great step
:49:19. > :49:27.aunt at the most wondrous garden and as a child ins were bigger than me,
:49:28. > :49:30.there were flowers growing above me, it was a magical world and it
:49:31. > :49:38.started me off with this kind of garden. In Sarajevo in the 1990s, it
:49:39. > :49:44.was under siege, and the little strips of green which we take for
:49:45. > :49:47.granted, scruffy bits of grass, the were dug up and turned into
:49:48. > :49:55.vegetable gardens and they were providing food for people. That is
:49:56. > :50:02.how important gardening is. This is the St John's Hospice garden and it
:50:03. > :50:08.is calming and gentle and the water feature makes you want to stand and
:50:09. > :50:15.stare at it. There are poppies, little things, your eye looks at
:50:16. > :50:25.them and you think, little sparks of brightness. This is the garden, very
:50:26. > :50:34.exotic from the far east, where I've travelled. You know how people live
:50:35. > :50:40.in harmony with water. This is so exotic, it makes me think, 30 years
:50:41. > :50:45.ago, when I first came to Chelsea, things were more orderly, but now
:50:46. > :50:49.things are more exotic and people can express themselves for in their
:50:50. > :50:59.garden and they can say, this is a garden, but it is also me, and I
:51:00. > :51:01.think that is wonderful. I so agree. The more personalised garden is, the
:51:02. > :51:08.better. It's almost moment of truth time
:51:09. > :51:11.as we reveal who has won the most prestigious prize of them all -
:51:12. > :51:14.the RHS Best Show Garden 2016. But only the large show
:51:15. > :51:16.garden designers that won Here's a look at this
:51:17. > :51:30.year's contenders. James has brought a slice of the
:51:31. > :51:37.wildlife of Provence that has secured his second goal successive
:51:38. > :51:43.years. The Morgan Stanley Garden for great warmers are, this peaceful
:51:44. > :51:54.shady secretary sees this means yet another gold -- for Great Ormond
:51:55. > :51:59.Street Hospital. As the Irishman for my first gold medal, this is
:52:00. > :52:05.something special. The Telegraph Garden by Andy Sturgeon, previous
:52:06. > :52:08.winner. He is live on in this kind of a dramatic design which takes us
:52:09. > :52:18.on a journey from the mountains to glacial valleys. The Chelsea
:52:19. > :52:22.Barracks Garden five shows Thompson. -- five Joe Thompson, she is the
:52:23. > :52:37.only female in the running for the Phil Price. Now the M garden. You
:52:38. > :52:46.already has several awards and it is felt. I carve the contenders.
:52:47. > :53:00.-- those of the contenders. These were the announcements for the
:53:01. > :53:06.winners. I'm delighted to announce and the surgeon and the Telegraph
:53:07. > :53:16.Garden some of the first show garden. -- Andy Sturgeon and the
:53:17. > :53:28.Telegraph Garden, they have won the first show garden. Regulations.
:53:29. > :53:36.Congratulations. You have one goal, you have done a great garden. It is
:53:37. > :53:44.brilliant. A huge amount of work. This is not just for me, this was a
:53:45. > :53:49.fifth journey. A monumental task. -- big journey. People were thinking
:53:50. > :53:55.some of those guys are never going to finish, but there are so many
:53:56. > :53:59.heavy bits of stone, this was a huge task for the people who have built
:54:00. > :54:06.this garden, crocuses, the people that have done the gardening, they
:54:07. > :54:18.have an amazing job and this has been a great team effort. Really
:54:19. > :54:26.regulations. Thank you -- congratulations. He was very
:54:27. > :54:31.emotional. It means a lot. It's a big thing for a garden designer to
:54:32. > :54:38.win the best garden at Chelsea. What a fantastic garden. Wonderful.
:54:39. > :54:47.Outstanding. I could have gone either way. They are good old mates.
:54:48. > :54:52.I'm sure that they will take it well. Once the excitement died down
:54:53. > :55:02.I went to have a chat with Andy Sturgeon. Is it sunk in. Are you
:55:03. > :55:09.feeling on top of the world. I am. I'm also feeling like this.
:55:10. > :55:18.Exhausted. Was it a difficult field? Very difficult. -- difficult ill.
:55:19. > :55:25.There was a moment when I thought I was overambitious. That was the
:55:26. > :55:30.point of the design, I wanted it to be massive and monumental and
:55:31. > :55:36.striking. The only way I felt that was to go fig. What is noticeable.
:55:37. > :55:44.Along with the very noticeable thematic stone and shapes, very
:55:45. > :55:52.subtle delicate planting. How did you arrive at that? I wanted to
:55:53. > :56:00.balance the landscaping. I wanted it to be really soft and serene and
:56:01. > :56:05.calm and elegant. And really soft on it and it brings the edge of them.
:56:06. > :56:10.Introduce harmony, really. They could have been very different. I
:56:11. > :56:16.took inspiration from travels, especially in the Mediterranean, in
:56:17. > :56:19.summer. You see the colours in the leaf texture and the shapes and that
:56:20. > :56:25.was the starting point for this palette. It is lovely and it rewards
:56:26. > :56:38.repeated viewing. Congratulations again. Thank you very much.
:56:39. > :56:51.We made our predictions. These are the ones who got it right. Adam,
:56:52. > :57:03.Toby, Joe. The ones who got it wrong. Including Monsey. Monsey.
:57:04. > :57:14.The only reason I went for it, you went for Cleve and I thought I would
:57:15. > :57:18.go for the other one. And don't forget if you disagree
:57:19. > :57:21.with the RHS's decision you can have your say from tomorrow
:57:22. > :57:24.when we'll be launching this year's It's your chance to be judge
:57:25. > :57:27.and jury on this year's Tomorrow evening we'll be giving
:57:28. > :57:31.you a rundown of all 17 gardens in contention along
:57:32. > :57:34.with all the details on how you can Your winner will be revealed
:57:35. > :57:40.on BBC1 on Friday night. Best in show and People's choice
:57:41. > :57:43.awards are different gardens. Quite often.
:57:44. > :57:46.Well, that brings us to the end of what's been an emotional
:57:47. > :57:51.Congratulations once again to all the designers and exhibitors,
:57:52. > :57:53.who no doubt will be celebrating, or commiserating, perhaps,
:57:54. > :57:57.Nicki Chapman and James Wong are back tomorrow at 3.45pm on BBC1
:57:58. > :58:00.as they kick off our floral celebration of the Great Pavilion.
:58:01. > :58:06.Plus, Strictly star Brendan Cole will be joining in the fun.
:58:07. > :58:15.Joe and I will be back on the same time tomorrow on BBC Two. Until
:58:16. > :58:17.then, the Fai. -- goodbye.