Episode 13 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Hello and welcome back to the Chelsea Flower Show 2017,

an event supported by M Investment.

If you've just switched over from BBC One you'll have already

seen the announcement of the winner of this year's BBC RHS

That went to Chris Beardshaw. I am not surprised, he has a big

following and also it is the most traditional and accessible garden

for a lot of the viewers and visitors. People like the idea of a

beautiful garden with lots of flowers and they get confused that

the judges can mark that time. It is like catwalk, we need huge variety,

this is a show. Gardens don't always have to be challenging. Some can be

with difficult concepts and some can just be beautiful and packed full of

colour, this is a flower show, we want flowers on display. Variety is

the key. Variety to be challenged, provoked. Sometimes. Well done to

Chris. We're nearing the end of what has

been an extraordinary week here at Chelsea,

but we are looking to the future, exploring the show gardens

and exhibits to help us get the best Wildlife expert and naturalist

Ellie Harrison joins us to reveal why she thinks even the tidiest

garden can be a wildlife garden. We meet one ambitious Chelsea

exhibitor as he attempts to capture the essence of his five acre garden

in a display in the Great Pavilion. And Adam Frost is back -

this time he's uncovering the Chelsea designs that

will help your garden keep The plants we grew not only enhance

our lives visually but they clean the air and provide us with the food

we eat. But with the weather becoming more unpredictable, not to

say chaotic, the necessity to explore new species that will

sustain us in years to come must be addressed. Nick Bailey has been

searching the Great Pavilion to discover the plants suited to this.

Much of the focus at Chelsea is about plants, ornaments and beauty.

But here in the floral marquee there are a stance which focus more on

education. I am on the Royal botanic Gardens stand and I am highlighting

a recent report they have carried out into the state of the world's

plants as a result of climate change. This report could not be

more timely. At present, 90% of our diet comes from just 20 plants.

There is such a huge range of plants we can potentially grow yet we do

not. I think this is a good example of how we are prepared to embrace

new vegetables. 30 years ago nobody had heard of a sweet potato and tell

it isn't all supermarkets, so easy to cook so if we can embrace this,

why not other new vegetables? Another good example is this. The

snake good. You can use this in dishes to bulk up very interesting

vegetables. And then, I think this is lovely, these little cuca melons.

This one apparently tastes a little bit like cuca melons. I will give

this a go. Fresh with some cucumber and lime, really good. If we can

embrace sweet potatoes, why not other new plants? For some people,

having access to a garden is becoming more and more difficult. So

the plants we choose for our home are more significant than ever.

Plants spring beauty to our homes, everybody knows that, but they have

other benefits. Something like this mother-in-law's tongue, when

sleeping at night this absorbs toxins from the air and introduces

Rex -- Fresh oxygen into the home and it is easy to look after, you

can forget to watch this for around three months and it will live. This

might explain why sales of house plants in the UK are up by nearly

30%. People are slowly waking up to the wider benefits that hides can

bring to our lives. With the changing climate, the plants we use

and the way we use them is going to have to change. What better place

than Chelsea to get a glimpse into the future?

Almost all the gardens at this year's show has some type of water

feature incorporated within its design and

It can add sound, reflection, colour and movement and create

a calming effect and when it takes centre stage, water opens up a whole

It opens up the range of plants you can grow.

To find out more about which plants work well in the wet,

we travelled to Leicestershire to visit a veteran Chelsea exhibitor

who's devoted the last 20 years of her life

I love to see what in a garden, it can be tranquil and reflective. --

water in a garden. The most important thing about water is the

wildlife literally arrives in your garden. It should be the centre part

of any garden, you can grow so many different things, it is just

wonderful. I am Linda Smith and I run Waterside Nursery. We grow and

sell aquatic plants. The troughs are full of water, we have tanks of

water. Water everywhere. I think a lot of gardeners come to aquatics

because they want to create a haven for wildlife. Sometimes it is nice

just to enjoy what water brings to the garden. And just being able to

see these newts coming back every spring is lovely. We should probably

do some work! A waste of time but so much fun! A lot of experienced

gardeners will say this is in the area to Explorer and is a range of

plants they never encountered. The most colourful at the moment is the

Marsh Marigold. They do create quite a splash of colour. They can help

water over the top of the basket by an inch or two why that can't be in

a bloody situation. But others actually need water over the top

permanently. So the water plantain... This will flower in July

or August. It will always have water over the basket top or its crime and

it could be up to around six inches of water. I love what Hawthorne,

they are white flower with black centres. They brighten up the

surface of the water, long before the water lily leaves to come up to

the sunshine. Chelsea this year will be different for us. Since we were

at Chelsea in 2016, we have moved the entire nursery. The first thing

we have to do was level an area of ground. The whole area was at the

same height as that lower field. So all of this has been raised up to

make it flat for us. We have moved every trough, every plant. We have

transported probably more than 20,000 plants, about 0.9 of a mile,

from one end of the village to another, all a bit daunting because

everything we knew about how to prepare plans for Chelsea is not the

same any more. The new display panel for Chelsea is holding more heat

than the older one. It is 20 degrees here and this is a dull day so we

have had it much harder in the recent sunshine. You can see the odd

flower coming out but unfortunately he was not be going to Chelsea

because they are too far on. But the others, we have some buds were

trying to hold back by bringing them into the cold and we can hopefully

go back to those and get those flowering and bring them on quicker.

Our Chelsea display is based around an L shape of ponds, there is about

800 gallons, about 3.5 tonnes of water. Dealing with water in that

quantity is quite difficult, we have to make sure our tanks and structure

is a outburst in the middle of the showground! We would never go again,

we would be thrown out! It is another challenge. The new nursery

and going for another gold. Hah! Lender, did you get the gold? Yes,

we are thrilled. Congratulations. I have been coming to their stand for

years and I have never seen it looking so colourful, more flowers

than ever? The water lilies love the new tunnels and the sun and the heat

we have had. The Annie Mac says has done very well, -- and obsess. It

loves the new heat. Would that normally be in bud? Pushing to get

some flower, this year it is flowering very well. Iris and

Primula on the banks, they look stunning. They have that internal

glow? Yes, flowering very nicely. Great this year. Some of the other

flowers love the heat too much. They went over to early. Plan be. We

brought the outside 1's back in for a quick burst of extra heat. This is

the smoke and mirrors of the Chelsea exhibit! These are just some of the

runners and riders? You have hundreds to pick out, just that

doesn't that come from each variety. You have left how many back that

could have come here? More than we brought. You are literally picking

which one to come but you have already discarded some that have

flowered too early and you put them in different situations to bring

them all at different stages so you are constantly altering and bringing

little groups forward to make the right one on the right day. You have

a team, the new nursery. Will you come back next year with a lake?

Please! No! Nothing bigger, I don't think we could stand it!

It's with the help of experts like Linda that our garden ponds can

be not only beautiful but also diverse and rich ecosystems

which attract and support wildlife, and that's important

because as gardeners we have a role to play

And to discuss that role, I'm joined by passionate naturalist

What is the easiest way for a gardener to get this going, to

attract wildlife? The first thing to remember is if you look after the

invertebrates, the creepy crawlies, that'll feed animals further up the

food chain, if you want badgers or birds you must start with the

invertebrates. The simplest and most effective scientifically proven way

to bring wildlife is trees, there is a greater living space, if you

imagine blue tips, 15 times their birth weight in two weeks. So many

caterpillars there. And the bark is home to the composers. And it will

make the garden writer. Most people will have small Gardens, which trees

in particular are likely to attract wildlife?

Any tree. We are obsessed with native trees but it isn't necessary.

Across the whole northern hemisphere, plants are not that

different. Snowdrops came over with the Romans but we considered them to

be native. It's about making sure you have that space. If you have a

small garden, trees will not be ideal. At one garden in Bristol we

went to, they had a plastic bucket, and that water was bringing

important things in. That leads to another point. You say bring in

fallow deer, but I don't want fallow deer. A lot of the things I have to

deal with is, how do I kill slugs? How do I get rid of moles and

rabbits? At what point should we treat things as pests and at what

point should we accept some amount of damage to our gardens to

encourage wildlife? The majority of invertebrates that come into gardens

are good for them. There are the odd one or two you would prefer not

have. It's useful to garden without chemicals where you can, so if you

are worried about a particular insect, pick them off or put them in

a bird table or, if you are obsessed with slugs, consider using nematodes

rather than chemicals. When the chemicals get into the food change,

-- food chain, is a depressing long death for hedgehogs and so on. Is

there any point in the food chain which is more critical than anything

else? Should we be thinking, we are going to focus on birds? Is there

one point we should come in at and nail it? Absolutely the

invertebrates. Get your creepy crawlies right. Let's say you have

planted up a beautiful area. You have kept the soil organic and you

have got spring tales, mites, slugs, snails, centipedes, they will feed

frogs, toads and slow worms and the birds, and you will get what you

want. The other thing I am keen on is some long grass. It provides

cover. That's true. People often worry with wildlife gardening that

it needs to be scruffy, that you need nettles and scruffy patches,

and you don't. The cover can be long grass or just plants, which is great

cover for birds and hedgehogs, a darker, safer place. A garden can

look good and it can have a wide and varied, diverse ecosystem. You can

do it with great ease. Thank you very much.

Our gardens really are a haven for wildlife. I have lived in garden all

of my life and it is a great challenge to create it with wildlife

in mind. Gary McDermott, a Great Pavilion incident, is set himself

the challenge of representing a five acre garden on his much smaller

display. Garden designer Arit Anderson went to discover if he was

happy with results, but first a look at his journey and the landscape

that really him to do it. Alpine planted woodland plants are

very hardy and they need to be to grow in this area. We are in

north-east England. This is County Durham, about eight miles north of

Durham city. We get low temperatures. We are on a very

exposed site. They are the kind of plants that work well for us. Myself

and my business partner, Paul, started this nursery from an old

farm about 12 years ago. I've been interested in Alpine and woodland

plants for a long time. I suppose, from childhood, I remember my

parents and grandparents' gardens. There will always help in scoring.

One in particular remember was a saxifrage. We still grab it now. A

lot of people would note as London pride. These are some of the

woodland plants, which we hope to take Chelsea. It's a process now of

keeping an eye on plants. If they need a bit more heat, we will give

them back. If they need to be cooled down, we will do that. People have

the impression that this type of poppy is a bit difficult to grow.

Given the right conditions, they are not. A damp, shady area in neutral

to acid soil is good for these plants. So this one is quite a

special plant for us. This is a primula, but unlike the normal type

with the two tone pink and lilac flowers, this one is a white form.

We launched this at Chelsea in 2016. It was actually found by chance in

the garden of a gentleman in Northumberland. It is named after

Alison Hollins after the gentleman's daughter-in-law. Alpine plants grow

at high altitudes, very hardy. The definition really is plants which

grow above the tree line. This is another star turn for Chelsea this

year, a new Edelweiss called blossom of smoke after the song. The

difference with this one is it grows very tall flower stems and it's

suitable for a cut flower. This will be launched at Chelsea, we are going

to exhibit it at our stand and it is in for Chelsea plant of the year. If

all this growing wasn't enough for me, I've also started this huge

project of a five and a half acre garden in the field next to the

nursery, which is all-encompassing at the moment. What we've done is,

because the area was so wet, we've excavated these naturally fed ponds,

and the soil from that has been used to create some mounded areas, which

will give some shade to the plants which need it. What I wanted to show

here is that the plants which I enjoyed growing will actually grow,

in some cases, where they shouldn't grow. This site is very exposed and

windy. It's a bit like ripping up the rule book, but the proof is in

the ceiling. The plants are there and they are flourishing. -- the

proof is in seeing it. This is what inspired our Chelsea exhibit this

year. We have a lot of Mac and not since as long as a lot of primulas.

In this area, we have a stream running through. We wanted to create

a similar display at Chelsea, so there will be the suggestion of

water and shady areas. It's a bit like taking a slice of County Durham

down to Chelsea. This one, this type of plant

normally dies after flowering. This one dies after flowering. When these

shells open, the flower unfolds like silk and it gives this spectacular

display. It looks fragile but really it isn't. Many of the Alpine is that

we are exhibiting at Chelsea are actually growing here, outside in

the garden. There is a phlox pickled crackerjack -- crackerjack, --

called crackerjack. As long as they are not too wet, especially in

winter, they will survive in most gardens. It's always been a kind of

pet project of mine at the back of my mind that I wanted to create an

area where I could grow the kind of plants that I enjoy. Some people

would say it was madness, but looking back at it, it's been hard

work but we've made a start, and we are pleased with the results so far.

Lovely to meet you, Gary. Bringing your slice of County Durham to

Chelsea. We finally managed it and we are pleased with results it looks

fantastic. I am drawn in by so many things. This site is shadier. Yes,

the exhibit is split into two parts. One is the alpines in containers, in

the sunny position, and the other half is plants for damp, shady

areas. There is the mecanopsis. It looks fabulous. Still one of my

favourites. This one sings out at me. This primula isn't often seen

around, because it is sterile so it doesn't grow from seed, but it is

quite vigorous and it can be propagated by division. Wood and

this one is gorgeous! This is a Japanese woodland plant, so it is

suitable for a shady area, in most, would free greening soil. -- in

moist, wood free soil. There is an interesting story about this one. It

has been really well received at the show. We launched it here last year

and lots of interest, and the same this year. I prefer this one. So do

I. It gives a cooler, calmer effect. It's beautiful, really pretty. What

we saw on the film was the Edelweiss. To give it its correct

name... It is called blossom of snow. It's so pretty. You talked

about the fact that they don't often have flowers coming up this high.

Much taller flower stem, and it's really good for re-flowering. So it

flowers again? Yes. So we can sit all of these in containers so

anybody with a patio or a balcony can recreate it. Yes, they are all

good for containers. So everybody has their favourite Alpine planting

in their space! I can't help but be dazzled by your gold medal. Yes,

really pleased. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

James, you are a long-standing and experienced RHS judge. I like to

think so. I have this piece of paper. I think a lot of people have

been asking, how do you go about judging in detail? I know you always

say it is transparent. Here we are, on this garden, which got a gold

medal, and this relates to this garden. It relates to the scores the

garden was given by the judges. We give this piece of paper to the

designer the day that the medals are issued. It explains to you why these

are aligned as they are. This one says, realisation of Clyde's brief,

very good but not excellent. Does that mean that they lose a point?

Yes. The brief for this garden is really quite complicated. We were

worried it was too complicated for the public to fully understand it.

The brief is the document that the designer produces with his drawing

that says what he or she is going to do. For example, they say, we are

going to create a Mediterranean paradise. If when we get here it

isn't a Mediterranean paradise, lose a point for it. This one says,

overall impression, attention to detail, choice of materials, polish

and dressing. It lost a point. This is the designed details of it,

anything from cushioned and benches -- cushions and benches. There was a

little problem with the way that the rill enters the pond. The staring is

a little bit clumsy. That is harsh! But it does well on ambition, design

and special composition, construction... This is a

beautifully built garden, and that mark really goes to the landscape.

You've got plant association, sustainability, but they've lost a

mark. You've got some plants in there that you know they will

outgrow the space very fast. We are a horticultural society and we are

trying to teach people good horticulture. If a visitor says, I

like that, and they take it home, they will be disappointed. So the

giant grass, it gets the same size as you. It's rather stuff in there.

Anything else? There is some. We know it will go over very fast. --

some catmint. So if they are too close together or far apart, you

will lose a point. Do you ever say, the truth is, it's well done but we

don't like it. We don't use the word liking it. Anybody who uses the word

has to wash their mouth out! We have to look at it scientifically and

objectively. So everybody gets one of those. To get a gold medal, how

many points do you need? 28. So if you had six ticks in the excellent

column, he would win. Correct. Thank you.

Lots still dance night at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, an event

supported by M Investments. Coming up, we travel to Hampshire to meet a

nurseryman whose childhood obsession with plants that are coniferous has

led to a collection of 20,000. We catch up with Andy Sturgeon, as he

plans his next big eco-garden. And Floella Benjamin joins us to discuss

how she is working with the RHS to get the next generation of gardeners

ready. To create a display at Chelsea takes

months of planning, growing and stress and, without the right team

behind you, it's impossible to achieve. Most of us get into

gardening through our parents and grandparents, and in the Great

Pavilion, over 70% of nurseries family run businesses, which can be

both a help and a hindrance, as Rachel de Thame discovered.

I hear that both of you were brought together because of plants? That is

right. We met at the horticultural college. Was she the flower for you

straightaway? Something like that! Do you have different roles within

the business? Whatever I say goes! I don't believe that! In the early

days she was in charge of the plants and I did the business but since the

children, Emma is more of a parent and I am more the business. This is

a family business, is not just you two? Definitely not, both of our

fathers have helped with years -- for years with the business. At the

start we relied so heavily on our fathers to step in, we are lucky to

do something we love but it is quite physical work. It is a tough game

but we do enjoy it. Angela, I believe you buy the mastermind

behind the business? How did this start? It started 25 years ago but

before then I was wholesaling alpines and herbs. How was that

handing control over? We disagreed quite a bit on some things and it

took me a long time to build it up to what it was. Sometimes you have

to change it while she is away! Bomb is going to be there hopefully until

she is 90! 110? I would still be happy because she still better at

something is than I am. I will still be doing the cuttings! You are

husband and wife but the business came through your side of the

family? It did. Originally it was my grandparents' nursery and my father

also had a nursery as well. And you married not only the lovely lady but

you had a business also, did you always like this? If I am truthful,

before I met my wife I had never heard of pinks! And I married her

anyway! But I just fell in love but then, brilliant plants. All week,

Adam Frost has been looking at the design ideas that could work for us

in our gardens at home. This is a final instalment. Adam is selecting

the concepts that were the best from us in our busy lives. As a garden

designer I love everything about Gardens but the future doesn't

excite me. How can we garden in years to come? -- really does excite

me. This is a really well-designed community space and one of the ideas

that stands out is this pond, it looks beautiful but it is clever,

this is a storm pond and designed with the paving around it so when it

pours with rain it collects water and runs into the pond but over a

period that will evaporate and disappear and that is where these

concrete rings come in, the planting is in that to hold the moisture so

even in dry periods it will still look fantastic. And the added detail

is we have so much rain the pond builds over, it runs off into the

plant. We have this hard landscape that is very cool and simple.

Concrete but mixed with the paving slab and when I went in I was

looking at the detail and the shapes and I realised it was just the old

grey council paving slabs you have on the streets. Reusing old

materials and maybe going forward, we will do a lot more of that.

Better for the environment. Absolutely love this, fantastic. It

plays with signed in the garden. You cannot hear it, it is not like at

home and the neighbours played the music too loud, this is clever, the

water is one inch deep and there is a plastic liner and underneath that

is speakers and different tunes play Patrick Cummins in the water. It is

incredible, that vibration. -- the tunes create Patrick Cummins. And

the same with this travel, it vibrates and if you put your feet on

it, the vibration goes through your body. My children would love this.

Plugging in music and seeing what Patrick Cummins they can create. For

me, it would have to be Paul Weller on a Sunday afternoon and just sit

and enjoy it. That is amazing. The coolest thing I

have seen at Chelsea. This wall behind me has got 3.8 miles of

fibre-optic cable and they are cut into 75 millimetre pieces and set

into steel panels in a concrete mix. And you get this effect, which looks

like an African sky. It is not just this side, as you go into the

building, it repeats itself. Imagine this, your friends come around for a

party... Socially and environmentally, gardens will play a

massive part in our future but ultimately they will be driven by

technology. The Great Pavilion is a treasure

trove filled with rare and exotic plants and the people who've

dedicated their lives Mat Soper is one such exhibitor,

whose life long obsession with carnivorous plants has resulted

in a collection of over 20,000. We visited his nursery in Hampshire

as he selected the plants I just like the shapes, the colours.

They are different, there is something unusual and they do a job

by catching insects, flies and wasps. But many other plants can do

that. -- not many. The first thing to grab my attention with

carnivorous plants was the Venus fly trap, I saw them on the natural

history programme, the screen was filled with that closing on-the-fly

and that sparked my interest. Every year it slowly built up. It was a

conscious effort, one down, I will then do this, it just slowly

happened. This is the main greenhouse. There is in excess of

15,000 large display plants in here, the age ranges from eight to around

40 years, some of them I have grown from seed. I would say the main

trapping mechanisms are the pitfall traps, the spring traps and the

sticky sundews. These are North American picture plants. They are by

far the most efficient of the carnivorous plants, extremely good

fly and wasp captures -- catchers, they produce nectar around the lid

which intoxicates insects, they eat the nectar and make their way down

into the throat of the plant with larger deposits of nectar, it is

slippery and they literally slip down into the Tube and the digestive

fluid slowly breaks them down and this is where the plant gets its

nutrition from. This is impressive. He rarely will see one as big as

this! This is the Venus fly trap. They have three trigger hair is on

each lobe, the fly will touch one of them and the trap closes. These are

sundews. Very unusual, they produce sticky globules of glue. Very

sticky. They catch small insects such as whitefly in the greenhouse,

fruit flies and small houseflies. A lot of people worry about them

catching enough flies, that is the least of my worries, I don't give

that a second thought. They can do without. Not me. -- they can deal

with that. My main interest in this groups of plants is hybridisation.

They say that you cannot improve on nature. You can! I will cross this

with this. I will take the flower with the petal. You can see the

grains of pollen, I will scoop some of these up. There is that little

nodule inside, I will touch the pollen to the stigma and that is how

we make new plants. If you cross a very big Green plant with a short

right pink one, you would like to get big pink ones but you are lucky

enough to get short green ones so this is a Lucky Dip. The perfect

conditions at home to grow really nice plants is a small, unheated

greenhouse. For growing tomatoes. They like a lot of light and water,

cold in the winter. Those three things are very important. This year

will be our 19th year at the Chelsea Flower Show and we have had 18

consecutive gold medals. We are putting on a single genus display

with these North American picture plants. We have the plans to pick it

up. We will see at Chelsea. This would be a very good example. Nice

and bright. Facing forwards, that would be very good to take along.

This is colourful, this has to go, this one is too dull. I had no

interest in gardening as a youngster but I like growing other things as

well like orchids and ferns but it all came from carnivorous plants,

they are very good way to get youngsters into gardening in

general. It is really nice to see people starting to grow these

plants. He seemed to be on an unstoppable roll! Taking the world

by storm. How many golds? We have been coming for 19 years and this is

the 19th gold medal. Best in show? That was very difficult because of

all the shows, other such a very high quality show because at that

time of year everything is Fresh as a daisy. I have never seen a better

display than this year, they are absolutely superb, are you getting

better or is this a good year? We were planning for this one year in

advance, we normally don't do that out of work and the stars aligned,

everything is perfect with that hot spell and the rain just before

Chelsea, they are pristine. These are all grown indoors? Unheated

glasshouse in Hampshire, freezing cold in the winter and all of this

growth has been produced in the last seven weeks. People have this idea

that they are very specialist and the potentially tricky. My

experience is nothing could be easier? That is right, just a couple

of rooms, plenty of sunlight, keep them cold in the winter, they are

not tropical, they look exotic, and you must use rainwater. People are a

little bit tentative about cutting them back? A lot of people ask us,

when they look tatty, cut off the dead bits to allow the sun to get

into the ground for the new group. Just trim them. Can you grow these

without any protection at all? Were happy through a trial with the RHS

at the nursery at the moment, growing them outside unprotected,

they are coming up just fine, they are a little bit behind these ones

but they seem fine. Yes, you can. Anybody could take any of these most

exotic plants to grow on a balcony or a windowsill? As long as they

have plenty of light, rainwater and the right compost. They look

fantastic and people are loving them. Keep growing them and we will

talk about the 20th gold medal next year! Thank you.

Standing here now, it's hard to imagine that

in a couple of weeks' time, everything you see will have gone

and this area of the hospital grounds will be returned

But what happens to all the gardens and exhibits when it's all over?

I'm standing on Chris Beardshaw's garden.

After the show closes tomorrow evening, this garden

is going to three different educational and community

In fact, every show garden here is being rehomed

or recycled in some way, and for some of the gardens that

means another flower show, as Nick Bailey discovered

when he met up with Chelsea grandee Andy Sturgeon amongst the crowds

We were neighbours last year at the flower show on Main Avenue, creating

gardens. We are back this year in different capacities, and I

understand you have a particular mission. I might have bitten off

more than I can chew, because it is daunting. I've had an idea for years

that, when these gardens get taken down, some of them gets sold on and

reused, but a lot of amazing pieces from the gardens just go into barns

and they are stacked up in yards up and down the country and they never

get to see the light of day again. So one of these beautiful things are

stashed away and you are going to pull them out again. What are you

going to do with them? The RHS asked me to do a garden at Hampden cart,

so we will make a new show garden out of anything I can get my hands

on. We are in this beautiful Viking cruises garden. I think you hope to

scavenge from it. That's right, we are going to keep the palms and

things. Anything else you have got your eye on? Some interesting plants

in the radio to gardens. I'm looking at James Alexander's rusty troughs.

But what I want to do is reinvent everything. I don't want people to

recognise it from here necessarily, because I want to use it in a

different way. You are pulling together these fantastic materials,

but labour is a huge component and landscapers are so important in

creating show gardens. How would you pull the team together? We have

called out the colleges, and a lot of the people working on that garden

will have recently graduated. The idea is that they get thrown out

into the industry in July and the first thing they do is get the

opportunity to make a garden and get their career to a flying start.

There is a crisis in the industry because young people are not seeing

it as an attractive industry. I want to change that because it's a great

job. If you look around any show and you see these amazing creations,

these great gardens, the designers get the glory but they wouldn't

happen without the people to build them. What better way to start a

career? Thank you very much. Pleasure. I am very much looking

forward to seeing Andy's garden when I go to Hampton court in July.

Somebody else who cares about young people and horticulture is Baroness

Floella Benjamin, who is spearheading a campaign to encourage

the next generation of gardeners. I suspect we all feel it's a good

thing to have young children involved in horticulture, but how

are you going about it? I'm an RHS ambassador, and they have a school

's gardening campaign, and we are trying to encourage schools across

the country to get children to be interested in gardening, nature and

the environment. It's fantastic to see that even the government

understand. I asked a question in the House of Lords, whether the

government would support the RHS with this, and they said yes,

because gardening can be therapeutic for children. So many children

suffer from depression and excited, because of laptops, this crazy world

they are part of, and if they learn about gardening, to understand about

patience, connection with the environment, to see that it takes

time for something to grow, the sense of belonging, I think that

will make a difference, and so many schools are now signing up to the

RHS school 's gardening campaign, which is wonderful. Wood dig your

own children garden? Yes, when my children were born, I pondered a

rose for them. In my garden, we have rose bushes. My son is 35 and my

daughter is 28, but rose blossoms beautifully. When we were little --

when they were little, we encouraged them to grow plants of their own. I

say to people, even if you don't have a garden, you can grow things

like broad beans, carrots, on a balcony, on a windowsill, and to be

exposed to nature in the way that I was through my mother, she

encouraged us... The easy thing, or the easier thing to do is to get

young people involved, somewhere between the age of four and eight

they are very receptive. The problem is to keep them involved or

introduce gardening and nature to 13, 14, 15-year-olds. You're right.

That's why, why ask the Minister that question, how can get young

people involved in gardening, in the environment and nature, and to see

it as a career path and to have it as part of the curriculum. If you

look at it closely, gardening can help with all different subjects. It

teaches about food production. The government is listening, and

thankfully, when I asked the question, the university of Glasgow,

universities said to me, this is important to us. Supermarkets said,

we want children to be involved. The Natural History Museum, all kinds of

people suddenly saw there is somebody out there talking the way

they want to introduce children to gardening. If anybody can do it,

it's you! Do you think that Chelsea, briefly, has something for children?

It's mainly adults who come here. Do you think children would benefit?

Especially this year, because Chelsea is so doable this year. You

don't feel like, I couldn't possibly achieve it. There is something

spiritual about it this year. The wild flowers and plants that you

see, there is a feeling of tranquillity. It is a very spiritual

place, and I think children need that spiritual harmony that they

have naturally to continue. Thank you for talking to us. I am sure you

will bring energy, dynamism and spiritual harmony to children and

gardeners. Thank you. Encouraging young people

into horticulture can only be a good thing and it can lead

to a promising career. Tamara Bridge and Kate Savill met

whilst taking part in the RHS Young Gardener of the Year in 2015

and now they have their own garden Here we are, on your garden. How has

it been working together? Really great. Kate and I have quite a lot

of crossover in our planting style, and that first made us think we like

working together. This process has been one of quick decisions,

laughing, giggling, but also some serious design, and hopefully that

passion and friendship shows in the garden. It is all about scent,

evoking memories of previous scents in childhood, which is tricky to

squeeze into age -- into a space like this. It's been fantastic

working with Jo Malone. She gave us the idea of a scent memory wall, and

it is: a journey of discovering what a memory of scent can unlock. We put

it on social media, we asked friends and family what they're scent

memories are, and we got a great response, from the smell of new

books, puppies, dusty vinyl, tree blossom. The response was fantastic.

Do you have a particular scent memory? Yes, both of ours is this

lovely woodland walk we created at the back of the garden. When I was

small, I used to race bikes in the local wood and aim for the puddles.

Earthy smells, wet leaves, it takes you straight back. Wright with the

heat at the moment, the real dry heat, when the rain hit that dry

paving, that takes me back. I lived in London all of my life and that

smell that comes off the dry ground... It takes you right back to

that hot summer where that memory has been evoked from. What plants in

particular really pack a punch here? We knew we wanted to include some

roses, and we have one called iceberg, with a delicate scent, but

also another one with a lemony scent. Lots of aromatic foliage,

herbs, things like thyme. Definitely, all around the seating

area. With this heat, the smell of the herbs is fantastic. I love the

way you are completely enveloped in plants. I think you've done a

fantastic job. You have a great future ahead of you, individually

and together, hopefully. Thank you. Thank you. Feel-good gardens have

been the highlight of the week. There you are, Joe! Very nice

garden. Beautiful, isn't it? Chris James McGee asked, what will be the

one best garden design idea you to take from this year's Chelsea and

use in your own garden? Funnily enough, it was on that garden, the

scent garden, round the back, a nice little area, just a path leading to

an area not much bigger than a metre across also, two little seats. It

shows you that, even in a very small garden, you can have a smaller area

that creates a different atmosphere. Matt has some lovely sort of Saronic

stones -- Saronic stones. He has used pine, and it is being clipped

and it creates a lovely dome effect. It is like bosoms. We all like a

bosom. There has been a lot of talk this week about your act, which

looks really stupid... What do you mean! And one or two people had the

temerity to suggest that my ties were less than ideal. I have a

couple of facts that might looked less stupid than yours. -- a couple

of hats. That's lovely! It gives me coverage. I need some more coverage.

Do you think it would work for me? It's about your tie. If you don't

think that hat is sufficient, we could try these. I think I cut a

dash. I think we are onto something, Monty. Put that on no, take the

other one. You are good with hats, aren't you? I like that, baggy

trousers... If we are serious, I will put on a bow tie next time and

nobody will complain with the braces? Yes, and that is me set up

for gardening. I think it is a bit laurel and Hardy, frankly. Give us a

hat. I think this is the one. How about that? It's the new Monty look.

How is that? Monty, we finally found you. You arrived. It's the real me.

I don't think we can take it any further or we will be out of a job.

It's nearly time to finish, but we've had such a good week here at

the 20 17th RHS Chelsea Flower Show, so we will leave you with a taste of

of the moments that have made this such a memorable year.

That's it for tonight, but you can join us here

tomorrow on BBC Two at 8pm, when we'll be back to look at some

of the people and plants that have made this year's Chelsea.

Sophie and Joe will also be here on Sunday at 5:30 on BBC One

with their highlights from the past week.

# I'll come get my things but I can't let go

# I'm waiting for it, that green light, I want it