:00:12. > :00:18.Before we start, the thoughts of everyone here at Chelsea with the
:00:19. > :00:23.families and victims of last night's horrific attack Manchester. Over the
:00:24. > :00:25.next hour, all we can hope to do is bring a little bit of light and calm
:00:26. > :00:55.on such a tragic day. Welcome to the RHS Chelsea
:00:56. > :00:58.Flower Show an event After months of planning and weeks
:00:59. > :01:07.of painstaking work, it's no surprise that the medal
:01:08. > :01:11.announcements brought a range of emotions to the surface -
:01:12. > :01:24.from joy and elation, Four Gold Medal is have been
:01:25. > :01:29.awarded, two silver-gilt medals and two Silver medals. Is that a fair
:01:30. > :01:35.reflection? That is about right, four out of eight got gold medals,
:01:36. > :01:40.that is 50%, last year 35%. A good standard although we have less
:01:41. > :01:44.gardens. There are a couple of gardens that might consider
:01:45. > :01:48.themselves lucky and another that might be unlucky. Yes, controversy
:01:49. > :01:49.at each end. But there or thereabouts. Yes, I think it is
:01:50. > :01:52.gritty fair. Tonight, we'll be bringing
:01:53. > :01:54.you all the key results from the large Show Gardens,
:01:55. > :01:56.along with indepth analysis and opinion on why they received
:01:57. > :01:58.the medal they were awarded. We'll be catching up
:01:59. > :02:00.with designer Chris Beardshaw, as we discover exactly how he's
:02:01. > :02:03.brought together the worlds James Wong meets renowned
:02:04. > :02:06.Japanese small garden designer Ishihara Kazuyuki -
:02:07. > :02:10.or, as he's known around Chelsea, 'The Moss Man.' I'll be
:02:11. > :02:12.chatting with fashion designer-turned-sculptor
:02:13. > :02:14.Nicole Farhi, to find out what's caught her eye at this year's
:02:15. > :02:18.Chelsea. And Mary Berry proves her
:02:19. > :02:20.green-fingered credentials, as she explores the importance
:02:21. > :02:24.of cut flowers in But first, let's turn our attention
:02:25. > :02:31.to the main event - the medals. Earlier today, Nicki Chapman
:02:32. > :02:33.and James Wong were up to see the tears of joy,
:02:34. > :02:51.and those of commiseration, It is the day the designers have
:02:52. > :02:55.been waiting for. You can just feel the tension as you walk down the
:02:56. > :03:01.Main Avenue, but this is it and we cannot wait any longer. That
:03:02. > :03:09.gentleman is Darren Hawkes. He built a garden here in 2015, winning a
:03:10. > :03:13.gold medal. Congratulations! Big smile, big hug, it looks like a
:03:14. > :03:21.gold. Just a massive relief, I have worked really hard for this in my
:03:22. > :03:27.garden. I can hear it in your voice. Is a gold Medal going to run through
:03:28. > :03:33.their Silk Road garden? Slightly disappointed? Very. He has done
:03:34. > :03:39.Artisan and Fresh Gardens and this is his first large one unmake -- a
:03:40. > :03:43.Main Avenue. I want to give you a Silver medal. Hopefully I will win a
:03:44. > :03:49.gold -- next year. We know that you will. Chris Beardshaw has six gold
:03:50. > :03:53.medals, more than any designers here who have had gardens here. This
:03:54. > :03:58.year, it looks like he has got a silver-gilt. We are so thrilled with
:03:59. > :04:05.our garden is looking forward to sharing it with everybody. Andrew
:04:06. > :04:09.Wilson and Gavin McWilliam. They have won a gold, they were too
:04:10. > :04:13.nervous to be here. Are they working around the corner with everything
:04:14. > :04:19.crossed? No. It is worth coming out for this. Charlotte Harris has been
:04:20. > :04:30.around Chelsea for years, always behind the scenes helping other
:04:31. > :04:37.designers. Good morning. Yes! Show everybody at home, how do you feel?
:04:38. > :04:43.Absolutely delighted. James Basson is relatively new to Chelsea and in
:04:44. > :04:48.that time, he has got three golds, four golds! Huge congratulations.
:04:49. > :04:52.Thank you very much. That is half the main gardens winning gold, is it
:04:53. > :04:59.too early for champagne? Whatever medal they get, their
:05:00. > :05:05.emotions are so finely run and they are so tired and tears are almost
:05:06. > :05:08.inevitable. James, you have come back up here which you have done for
:05:09. > :05:13.a number yet of years. You are a judge and you have done this eight
:05:14. > :05:19.while, can you explain a bit about the judging process. First of all,
:05:20. > :05:22.the medals. Gold, silver-gilt, Silver and Bronze in descending
:05:23. > :05:27.order. As I understand it, there is no element of competition between
:05:28. > :05:32.the gardens, anything can get -- anybody can get anything. Yes,
:05:33. > :05:37.wonderful, we want to give people as good a medal as we can. They are not
:05:38. > :05:42.competing against each other, they have designed gardens to comply with
:05:43. > :05:48.the nine judging criteria we have and we have worked out. I think on
:05:49. > :05:54.the whole, you have got it pretty good. I have seen hundreds of
:05:55. > :05:57.Chelsea show gardens and the one controversy is Chris Beardshaw. I
:05:58. > :06:01.said on this programme last night he was definitely getting a gold medal.
:06:02. > :06:07.And you gave him a silver-gilt. I have been back and had a look and
:06:08. > :06:09.his quality looks fantastic, the design is great, the construction
:06:10. > :06:14.looks good, why did he get silver-gilt? There was a problem
:06:15. > :06:19.with a couple of anomalies in the construction and we thought the
:06:20. > :06:24.plants were just too densely place. This is Chelsea, everybody at the
:06:25. > :06:29.top of their game. You are nit-picking! Yes, that is the whole
:06:30. > :06:33.point, chopping at tiny bits. We are looking for perfection and you have
:06:34. > :06:38.to look hard to find that. These gardens are really good, all of them
:06:39. > :06:42.are brilliant. OK, you are nit-picking, but his is probably the
:06:43. > :06:48.only garden that many people visiting would recognise as a garden
:06:49. > :06:51.that they can have at home. Is it out of touch, old-fashioned? No, we
:06:52. > :06:58.want gardens like that. We are putting on a Flower Show and we want
:06:59. > :07:02.as much variety in every area so we want modern gardens, avant-garde,
:07:03. > :07:05.crazy, and traditional. We're here to please the public and what we are
:07:06. > :07:10.trying to do is to give the public what they want all the time which as
:07:11. > :07:16.we know is impossible. We try and that every year to get it better.
:07:17. > :07:20.Very briefly, do you talk to the designers and tell them what they
:07:21. > :07:25.have done wrong? Absolutely, it is the most important part of judging,
:07:26. > :07:29.feedback. Today, I have been going around and seeing every designer we
:07:30. > :07:33.judged yesterday and saying, this is the mentally you got and this is
:07:34. > :07:37.why, this is what you can do better. This is why he is so used to
:07:38. > :07:41.answering questions, he gets a pummelling all the time! James,
:07:42. > :07:44.thank you very much, it is not an easy job, it is very easy to
:07:45. > :07:47.criticise but I think you do it pretty well. Thank you very much.
:07:48. > :07:50.The sheer amount of effort that goes into getting a large Show Garden
:07:51. > :07:52.ready for Chelsea is truly impressive, not to
:07:53. > :07:59.One of the real head-turners this year and a consistent contender
:08:00. > :08:02.at Chelsea is three-times Gold-medal winner - now four - James Basson.
:08:03. > :08:05.He may be relaxed and happy today - having scooped another gold -
:08:06. > :08:08.but, believe me, it was a monumental task building this year's garden,
:08:09. > :08:27.James Basson is famous for bringing a slice of Mediterranean France to
:08:28. > :08:29.Chelsea. Olive groves, lavender field, triggering streams. This
:08:30. > :08:41.year, his garden could not be modern different. This is extraordinary.
:08:42. > :08:47.What are you creating? A quarry. AMP and attic or about quarries, a bit
:08:48. > :08:50.obsessed. It is definitely brave, it is a departure about what you have
:08:51. > :08:56.brought to Chelsea for five or six years. We often do soft lines and
:08:57. > :09:02.planting so we thought we would do something contest in. Very much the
:09:03. > :09:10.wild and soft and woolly look, but a very, hard and straight and perfect
:09:11. > :09:16.line. What will rise out of this? Describe it. It has got to feel like
:09:17. > :09:23.a quarry and it has been repopulated and therefore become a garden. A
:09:24. > :09:30.backfill the quarry and they plan to them with weeds and our lives and
:09:31. > :09:36.trees and it is dwarfed by these massive pillars. But that is a small
:09:37. > :09:40.one! Yes, that is a small one. What will be the big challenges you will
:09:41. > :09:42.be concerned about? The biggest challenge is finishing. You always
:09:43. > :10:02.finish! But this is a big build! It is the moment when the ball the
:10:03. > :10:13.jigsaw puzzle is starting to link up. The stone was quarried in Malta.
:10:14. > :10:19.It was cut in Malta. It was packed in Malta. And it has been brought
:10:20. > :10:25.out and it has been made by the Maltese hands. The puzzle master has
:10:26. > :10:29.been putting it together and these guys from with their serious skill
:10:30. > :10:38.have been making it feel knitted and tight and perfect. We are always
:10:39. > :10:43.very keen to begin planting, you probably -- probably a bit too keen.
:10:44. > :10:46.The main client you do not want standing over you and it brings out
:10:47. > :10:51.the nerves of everybody. This will be a cooler and, and more reserved
:10:52. > :11:03.construction if I was not here kicking, kicking, kicking.
:11:04. > :11:18.Well, this is what I would call extreme gardening but because I am
:11:19. > :11:23.going up! How funny to see you at Pier, James, this is definitely an
:11:24. > :11:27.extreme planting! It is a very tall raised bed! It is wonderful and you
:11:28. > :11:31.have started the planting down there. We started in the woodland
:11:32. > :11:36.and we have gone up from the lush landscape and further into the
:11:37. > :11:40.gardens, it gets drier and hard up until we start planting. It is
:11:41. > :11:45.looking at spectacular, extraordinary, so different to what
:11:46. > :11:48.you have done in the past. Yes, it is a very contemporary looking
:11:49. > :11:52.structure, it is almost like a brutalist tower block and I'm quite
:11:53. > :11:56.attracted to that architecture. You have got a great bird's eye view of
:11:57. > :11:59.the showground from here. Yes, you are not lucky to come up here
:12:00. > :12:02.because loads of people have been asking get, you are the first up.
:12:03. > :12:16.What a privilege, that is great! And here it is, in
:12:17. > :12:23.all its golden glory! Golden stone and a Gold Medal to go
:12:24. > :12:28.with it, well done, James. All James' 'kicking kicking
:12:29. > :12:30.kicking' clearly paid off. And Monty will be catching up
:12:31. > :12:35.with James later on in the show. But for now, he's gone for a wander
:12:36. > :12:38.down the dingly dell, James is one of the four gold-medal
:12:39. > :12:54.winners on Main Avenue this year. However, regardless of the medal won
:12:55. > :12:57.or not won, the gardens here at Chelsea should simply be
:12:58. > :12:59.enjoyed for what they are. And they can stir different
:13:00. > :13:11.emotions, depending My own taste is very much drawn to
:13:12. > :13:15.the Artisan Gardens and in particular, this is by Gary Breeze
:13:16. > :13:17.who did that marvellous granite sarcophagus last year. This could
:13:18. > :13:26.not be more different, but it does share the celebration and attention
:13:27. > :13:30.to craftsmanship. It is based upon a 900-year-old boat found in the
:13:31. > :13:37.Norfolk Broads and this is a replica made out of oak, it is beautifully
:13:38. > :13:41.made, simple but elegant shapes. The planting around it reflects the
:13:42. > :13:47.Norfolk Broads where it was found, which is a man-made landscape. But
:13:48. > :13:52.they hold an astonishing amount of Flora and fauna. It looks very
:13:53. > :13:55.simple as though it is not a garden. But you look at the attention to
:13:56. > :13:59.detail and everything from the way the robes are tight and do your kids
:14:00. > :14:07.been put in the grass and the nest in the corner and the water, to the
:14:08. > :14:13.lettering, everything but is a celebration of cracking the ship.
:14:14. > :14:16.And for me certainly as a gardener, this hands-on arts and craft of
:14:17. > :14:24.growing things and of caring for them, of bringing them into being,
:14:25. > :14:28.as a partnership with the material. The oak for the boat or the plans
:14:29. > :14:33.that will blossom and be a celebration, they are all connected.
:14:34. > :14:37.It is the link between human skill and the natural world app that I
:14:38. > :14:41.think is a celebration of life and certainly it is exemplified in this
:14:42. > :14:44.Gold Medal winning garden. The Artisan Gardens have really been
:14:45. > :14:47.pulling in the crowds this And it's not just the public
:14:48. > :14:50.they attract, some designers actively choose a smaller canvas
:14:51. > :14:53.to work on, as they prefer the intricate nature
:14:54. > :14:54.of their planting. Ishihara Kazuyuki, one of Chelsea's
:14:55. > :14:56.frequent contenders, Famous for his medal-winning work
:14:57. > :15:01.with moss, there's more to this flamboyant character
:15:02. > :15:04.than meets the eye. James Wong went over
:15:05. > :15:29.to Japan to discover more Bustling Tokyo is one of the biggest
:15:30. > :15:34.cities on the planet. Then you turn down a side street, and you see
:15:35. > :15:43.this. It is just incredible. And this is where Ishihara Kazuyuki
:15:44. > :15:46.works. Mr Kazuyuki is a top garden designer with a background in Floris
:15:47. > :15:50.tree. I am meeting up with him to find out what brings him to London
:15:51. > :15:57.year after year to take on the challenge of Chelsea. We all know
:15:58. > :16:00.about your Chelsea gardens, but we are not really that familiar with
:16:01. > :16:16.your work in Japan. How did you come to be a garden designer?
:16:17. > :16:21.There is so much crossover between Floris tree and garden design,
:16:22. > :16:25.particularly at Chelsea. But what made you want to come to the other
:16:26. > :16:40.side of the world to show off your talent?
:16:41. > :16:46.We are so glad you did. One of the first things I noticed when I look
:16:47. > :16:50.at York wall, I can find the characteristic lance recognise from
:16:51. > :17:17.the styles of your previous gardens. Tell me more about them.
:17:18. > :17:23.It is really incredible what you've been able to achieve here in such a
:17:24. > :17:27.small footprint, and also, your gardens at Chelsea are always small
:17:28. > :17:49.but you maximise on that. Is that a theme that runs through your work?
:17:50. > :18:07.I love this wall. Tell me about some of your other local projects.
:18:08. > :18:16.As well as these incredible outdoor spaces, Mr Kazuyuki also create
:18:17. > :18:22.intimate Japanese gardens for hotels and restaurants.
:18:23. > :18:56.He is also a master of the Japanese art form it could ikebana.
:18:57. > :19:01.Last year you created a space that was very personal to you. What have
:19:02. > :19:41.you got in store for us this year? So you've been at Chelsea 11 times,
:19:42. > :19:46.you have eight gold medals and the President's award, and you still get
:19:47. > :20:12.so excited when you get the medal. What drives you to keep coming back?
:20:13. > :20:20.We only have a couple of months ago. I can't wait to interview again when
:20:21. > :20:31.you get your goals. Yes, nine times gold winner! And it is a ninth gold
:20:32. > :20:35.medal. Thank you very much! You said you wanted to create an Eden away
:20:36. > :20:36.from the turmoil of the world. Do you feel you have been successful
:20:37. > :20:51.doing that? I think more like 110%, because the
:20:52. > :20:54.incredible thing is, as you walk around, even at the back of the
:20:55. > :20:59.garden, it is immaculate. There is more attention to detail at the back
:21:00. > :21:06.of your garden than some people put up the front.
:21:07. > :21:12.So when I met you before, you were talking about taking this class ill
:21:13. > :21:14.doing and bringing it from Japan, you didn't have a substitute and you
:21:15. > :21:19.were bringing this from the other side of the world, and I felt so
:21:20. > :21:22.nervous for you, a single crack and you don't have a spare. How has that
:21:23. > :21:31.been? You have pulled it off again. This
:21:32. > :21:39.is your 12th time at Chelsea. Will there be a 13th? Yes, sir!
:21:40. > :21:45.Challenge! See you next year, same plot, another gold medal. I hope!
:21:46. > :21:48.Mr His attention to detail
:21:49. > :21:54.is as impressive as his And it's not just the garden
:21:55. > :21:58.designers who have been punching the air this morning,
:21:59. > :22:06.but the exhibitors You got gold? I did indeed. All the
:22:07. > :22:09.hard work put in, it is good to get an award at the end of the day. We
:22:10. > :22:15.have seen maples and the Japanese gardens, and you have a complete
:22:16. > :22:18.exhibit. How many have you got? 59 varieties in the display today.
:22:19. > :22:24.Myself and my aunt put it together. They don't seem to ever clash, you
:22:25. > :22:28.have lime green and burgundy but they all seem to work nicely
:22:29. > :22:31.together. Definitely. If you come again in a couple of months, they
:22:32. > :22:38.will all change colour through to the autumn. This is a new one on me,
:22:39. > :22:43.or to moon. Does it stay like that throughout the? It is red and orange
:22:44. > :22:48.in the spring, green and yellow in the summer and then red and orange
:22:49. > :22:53.again in the autumn. And the lovely filigree foliage one over there.
:22:54. > :23:00.What is that one? That one is called heartstrings. It goes to a nice read
:23:01. > :23:03.in the autumn. It looks like one of those ones that people might have
:23:04. > :23:08.problems drying out, sometimes believes go crinkly. What is the
:23:09. > :23:15.best tip? Keep them watered, Acer love water, they don't like the
:23:16. > :23:21.heat. In heat and high strong winds, give the pot a good soaking, water
:23:22. > :23:27.it until you see the water above the soil, it needs to keep the roots and
:23:28. > :23:30.leaves healthy. Moisture is key. Congratulations.
:23:31. > :23:32.And we'll be bringing you all the medal news
:23:33. > :23:34.from the Great Pavilion tomorrow, as we celebrate their planting
:23:35. > :23:37.prowess in more detail and reveal the winner of the prestigious
:23:38. > :23:40.Diamond Jubliee award for Exhibit of the Year.
:23:41. > :23:43.Now, many of the plants on display in the Pavilion have also been
:23:44. > :23:49.working their magic out there on the Show Gardens.
:23:50. > :23:52.In fact, in my opinion, they are the true superstars at Chelsea.
:23:53. > :23:54.Carol's been to pick some of the standout plant combinations
:23:55. > :24:02.that have been stealing the show this year.
:24:03. > :24:10.So often when people talk about plant combinations, they talk about
:24:11. > :24:16.brilliant, scintillating, vibrant colours. The kind of things that
:24:17. > :24:21.leap out at you. But if you look a little further, there is such
:24:22. > :24:23.subtlety, such beauty to be found. Just by putting the right plants
:24:24. > :24:33.together. You could very easily walked past
:24:34. > :24:39.this corner without noticing it, but as soon as I saw it, I was
:24:40. > :24:48.absolutely drawn in. The basis of it is this lovely soft grass. It is
:24:49. > :24:57.wavy hair grass, aptly named. And in the midst, this sizzling bit of
:24:58. > :25:08.yellow that is picked up by the Aquilegia. Perfect combination, but
:25:09. > :25:10.in contrast, these green buds. It is absolutely lovely, and it is
:25:11. > :25:17.something that anybody could emulate.
:25:18. > :25:24.When you look at this garden first of all, with these big bangs of
:25:25. > :25:27.colour, for me, the piece that I love best is this gorgeous texture
:25:28. > :25:40.contrast. First of all, the soft, fluffy
:25:41. > :25:49.fennel, and then this cuneiform bush.
:25:50. > :25:55.And the big, soft, silky chalice flowers.
:25:56. > :25:59.I love the way these grey leaves surround the stems, and then these
:26:00. > :26:09.great tall spires of the looping. The strong structure makes all the
:26:10. > :26:22.texture really come to the fore. It is not just with herbaceous
:26:23. > :26:25.plants that you can create the exciting combinations. There is a
:26:26. > :26:40.real live here, these big spheres. I love these dark, dark leaves. The
:26:41. > :26:47.subtle change of colour from copper to green, and then there is this
:26:48. > :26:55.tremendously elegant with these lovely blades.
:26:56. > :26:59.Whether you prefer annuals, herbaceous perennials or grasses, it
:27:00. > :27:04.is not just about the plants, it is about the combinations.
:27:05. > :27:08.I agree with Carol, plenty of combinations just right for stealing
:27:09. > :27:13.out there in the showground. Still to come tonight from the RHS
:27:14. > :27:16.Chelsea Flower Show, an event We'll be revealing the recipient
:27:17. > :27:20.of the event's most-coveted prize - Adam Frost picks out some key hard
:27:21. > :27:24.landscaping design elements that And Mary Berry adds some flower
:27:25. > :27:35.power to our Chelsea experience. I'm feeling quite at home with all
:27:36. > :27:41.these cupcakes around me. Now, in the last few years we've
:27:42. > :27:43.seen meadow planting become increasingly popular,
:27:44. > :27:44.returning to Chelsea And joining the fan club today
:27:45. > :27:49.is landscape designer Mark Lane. He caught up with gold medal winners
:27:50. > :27:52.Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliam to pick their brains on how best
:27:53. > :28:13.to achieve an ornamental meadow. Andrew, this is a magnificent
:28:14. > :28:20.garden, but first of all, congratulations on your medal. You
:28:21. > :28:24.must be so happy. Very happy, and thank you very much for your
:28:25. > :28:29.congratulations. Can you explain this type of planting for me? It is
:28:30. > :28:34.known as ornamental Meadow planting, so it takes on the feel of a
:28:35. > :28:39.naturalistic Meadow, but is actually made up of ornamental grasses and
:28:40. > :28:42.perennials. The strong colours, from the perennials, the softness of the
:28:43. > :28:47.strong grasses, and the whole thing feels like a Meadow.
:28:48. > :28:58.I am trying to turn on or should in my garden into a wild meadow area.
:28:59. > :29:04.How would I achieve this? Probably what you would do is to take the
:29:05. > :29:08.grass away and start all over again, because most of our lawn grasses are
:29:09. > :29:11.quite aggressive and competitive species. And can you pick out a few
:29:12. > :29:26.of the plants we have in here? Ornamental grasses here soften the
:29:27. > :29:33.other colours, with the tiny rice seed heads. You get the main deep
:29:34. > :29:41.colour for the sense of depth. The tall valerian on the right-hand side
:29:42. > :29:42.is a British native, and these are typical hawthorns that you would see
:29:43. > :29:53.in our hedgerows. Many people might be thinking we
:29:54. > :29:56.don't quite have the space of this Chelsea garden. Is there anything
:29:57. > :30:01.people could take home for their smaller gardens at home? By the
:30:02. > :30:05.entrance to the garden we have an area of planting that is about two
:30:06. > :30:10.metres by one metre, that could sit in a border or a centrepiece to a
:30:11. > :30:12.small garden, and I think that is the beauty of ornamental meadow
:30:13. > :30:18.planting. Thank you very much indeed, Andrew. It is a magnificent
:30:19. > :30:22.garden, and I have so much inspiration and I will hopefully
:30:23. > :30:23.catch up with you later on. Send me photographs of your orchard! I will
:30:24. > :30:28.do. Well, I wish Mark the very best
:30:29. > :30:32.of luck achieving his meadow full But now to my first love,
:30:33. > :30:57.growing from trowel to table. For the first ten years, I would
:30:58. > :31:02.grow fruit and vegetables, as many as possible, eating them and sharing
:31:03. > :31:04.them with my family is my idea of heaven. That is why I love this
:31:05. > :31:05.garden. Jon Wheatley's Taste garden
:31:06. > :31:18.certainly celebrates that ethos - It is the joy of it and I love that
:31:19. > :31:25.we are here at Chelsea and it is not pretending it is anything else, it
:31:26. > :31:28.is a vegetable plot. Yes, it is my passion and it is the colours and
:31:29. > :31:38.the forms and the shapes and the textures and you can eat them. You
:31:39. > :31:43.have won over 20 gold Medal is, why have you chosen this? You have
:31:44. > :31:58.mingled your charter and your letters, I am intrigued by the
:31:59. > :32:01.mixture of the new. We have done old-style letters and the new ones
:32:02. > :32:04.and the texture and form and the taste is one of the things we tried
:32:05. > :32:21.to demonstrate. An Olive was always under canvas all
:32:22. > :32:28.good Mediterranean. We can grow these now, the climate has changed.
:32:29. > :32:31.And a lot get grown under glass. In this lovely garden, we have looked
:32:32. > :32:36.at the foliage and the roots and the flowers.
:32:37. > :32:44.We have gone worldwide to research the work here. You have had a very
:32:45. > :32:49.short time, how long? About 11 weeks. What was the toughest thing
:32:50. > :32:53.getting this regular weeks? My colleague must take the credit for
:32:54. > :32:58.growing bees and testing vegetables, Terry Porter, to get them to this
:32:59. > :33:01.pristine condition. What has been interesting is the public response
:33:02. > :33:06.and the passion people have shown it standing on the edge of the garden.
:33:07. > :33:11.Is that young and old or just old people like me who are used to it? I
:33:12. > :33:17.suppose we both an age! My passion is to get young people involved and
:33:18. > :33:20.the 30 and 40-year-olds with small vegetable patches. They will come
:33:21. > :33:25.here and love it and hopefully go home and grow some vegetables and
:33:26. > :33:26.never stop for the rest of their lives, it is fantastic, thank you so
:33:27. > :33:32.much. Thank you. The Radio 2 Feel Good gardens
:33:33. > :33:35.are bringing a whole new element to the show this year?they provide
:33:36. > :33:37.somewhere to relax and some They mix information and
:33:38. > :33:49.informality. Queen of the Cakes -
:33:50. > :33:51.Mary Berry - is the ambassador Tonight, she's indulging
:33:52. > :34:07.in one of her other great When I was younger, there will
:34:08. > :34:11.always cut flowers in the House and even if I am away, I dumped the
:34:12. > :34:17.suitcase and I am out picking and cutting flowers to put on the table.
:34:18. > :34:24.What better way to choose a tulip fantasy this magnificent display
:34:25. > :34:28.here? Every possible variety. Dillane, you have a magnificent
:34:29. > :34:34.display. How long have you been coming to Chelsea?
:34:35. > :34:42.18 years and the family have been coming here since 1948.
:34:43. > :34:49.There used to be a great tradition of cut flowers and it is getting
:34:50. > :34:55.less and less. Yes, the wake people have displayed their stands, we have
:34:56. > :34:59.always displayed cut flowers. They are in vases, why not put them in
:35:00. > :35:04.pots? You could not plan to that amount of bulbs to give a display
:35:05. > :35:10.like that. I am surrounded by tulips in every colour, how many varieties
:35:11. > :35:15.do you have? We have 200 parts per on the stand at Chelsea Flower Show.
:35:16. > :35:19.These have always been a great favourite of mine with a long
:35:20. > :35:28.flowering time from June and they last in water. And in beautiful
:35:29. > :35:32.colours. These amazing colourful spray chrysanthemum make wonderful
:35:33. > :35:40.cut flowers from August to September. Well, I am feeling quite
:35:41. > :35:46.at home with these cupcakes around me. We have got vanilla sorbet here.
:35:47. > :35:52.I feel as though I want to lick it, it looks so beautifully creamy! Yes,
:35:53. > :35:57.it is a new one, it was released five weeks ago on to the British
:35:58. > :36:02.scene. We have got the privilege to date to show at the Chelsea Flower
:36:03. > :36:06.Show. Next up, these are the more traditional ones I have seen in
:36:07. > :36:11.vases, how would you keep them like that for a week? Every day, Mary, we
:36:12. > :36:19.cut the leaves to keep them fresh in this warm weather we are having. I
:36:20. > :36:23.have been really inspired by all the cut flowers and have seen here in
:36:24. > :36:31.Chelsea and I am going home full of ideas!
:36:32. > :36:36.The show is packed full of ideas and you have to stay focused because
:36:37. > :36:38.some people cannot take it in in a date which is why we are here all
:36:39. > :36:40.week. It's only day two of the show
:36:41. > :36:44.and already, we've seen a whole host of inspiration from both
:36:45. > :36:46.inside the pavilion and outside We've had 26-ft quarry cliffs,
:36:47. > :36:51.re-constructed beaches, no-dig gardens and edible tables -
:36:52. > :36:54.there's nothing the leading lights And thankfully, Adam Frost
:36:55. > :37:05.is here with us to help translate the exceptional into the accessible,
:37:06. > :37:07.as he unpacks elements from the show gardens
:37:08. > :37:17.that we too can enjoy at home. Any of you that have ever built your
:37:18. > :37:23.garden at home no the amount of materials available can be mind
:37:24. > :37:25.blowing. But it is important they play a major part in the garden and
:37:26. > :37:40.how it comes together. Concrete is immaterial I really
:37:41. > :37:45.love. I think some people are fearful of using it and they think
:37:46. > :37:49.brutalist architecture and it is grey and cold. But you can see how
:37:50. > :37:55.the grey of the concrete can really bring out the green in the plans in
:37:56. > :37:59.your own garden. He has used the same material in six different
:38:00. > :38:04.states. He has crashed it, you can imagine that as a waste product and
:38:05. > :38:09.that makes the gravel, and that introduces sound to the garden,
:38:10. > :38:12.after that, he has polished it. Wonderful sleeves and reflective and
:38:13. > :38:19.shiny surface up and light bounces around and it produces shadow. And
:38:20. > :38:23.he has poured acid on the polished surface which eats in and it creates
:38:24. > :38:29.a big coarseness which makes it a lot easier to walk on. Concrete is
:38:30. > :38:37.going to be about for a long time when you think about it.
:38:38. > :38:44.The colour and materials can really bring cohesion to a space, and what
:38:45. > :38:50.I like he is best beautiful bird larch with this copper detail which
:38:51. > :38:57.is picked up in the pine trees at the back. It runs up and it becomes
:38:58. > :39:00.a ceiling. And you go back to the larch and that is used horizontally
:39:01. > :39:05.on the floor which becomes our bridge out of the garden. And in the
:39:06. > :39:09.seating, it is really lovely and simple. If you paint a fence at
:39:10. > :39:13.homecoming use that same colour somewhere else in the garden, the
:39:14. > :39:19.table and chairs or a bench, and that will bring things together.
:39:20. > :39:25.Another point is that when you start to join materials together, wood and
:39:26. > :39:29.stone, they are very different. Timber always contracts and expands
:39:30. > :39:33.and if you put them to close, one will crack and chip. A tiny gap
:39:34. > :39:44.between them and it will last for a long time.
:39:45. > :39:50.Sometimes, it using too many materials in a space can make it go
:39:51. > :39:54.horribly wrong. There is a lot materials here and I think it is the
:39:55. > :40:01.colour that brings things together. We have grey steel. On the floor,
:40:02. > :40:03.grey tiles. The walls, they are made of grey stone, totally different
:40:04. > :40:10.materials and the colour pulls them together. The steel is picked up in
:40:11. > :40:14.the world. Bringing the materials together. And I like for a bit of
:40:15. > :40:20.fun the Orange which livens everything up. And we have the white
:40:21. > :40:24.brick on the front which is used vertically with the water running
:40:25. > :40:28.down it and horizontally. The white is clever because it brings
:40:29. > :40:33.brightness to what could be a really dark space. Clever use of materials
:40:34. > :40:40.can really set you up to help you create that perfect garden.
:40:41. > :40:43.There really is something for everyone at Chelsea if you know
:40:44. > :40:48.And if you don't, well, that's what we're here for.
:40:49. > :40:49.Take Chris Beardshaw's Morgan Stanley Garden.
:40:50. > :40:52.On paper, the concept behind his garden is dauntingly complex,
:40:53. > :41:00.involving mathematics, music and gardening.
:41:01. > :41:03.So, in order to get to the bottom of what exactly was going
:41:04. > :41:06.on inside Chris's head, we took it upon ourselves to head
:41:07. > :41:08.to Miserden Garden and Nursery in Gloucestershire and ask
:41:09. > :41:25.for an explanation from the man himself.
:41:26. > :41:33.It is extraordinary you stand on the cusp of two different styles of
:41:34. > :41:37.design, internally you have highly classical and ordered and geometric
:41:38. > :41:41.garden and externally you have a wide apart. We tend to associate
:41:42. > :41:46.that with being chaotic. It has of nature. And it is relationship
:41:47. > :41:47.between the apparent chaos and this formality, that is where the design
:41:48. > :42:00.for me started. Trying to understand the patterns of
:42:01. > :42:09.nature, what became apparent is it is not just evident in the
:42:10. > :42:13.arrangement of a leaf, the patterns are found in snowflakes. The weather
:42:14. > :42:20.systems. They conform to this rather irregular geometry and the other
:42:21. > :42:29.area at which you find fractured geometry in is music. And so I was
:42:30. > :42:37.interested to research some of the great composers. The likes of Mozart
:42:38. > :42:41.to understand how did they arrange their music? They were arranging
:42:42. > :42:50.music following beast irregular geometric fractured patterns. When
:42:51. > :42:55.you look at how formal and structured this geometry is, the
:42:56. > :43:01.topiary, it is very considered and very precise and a real sense of it
:43:02. > :43:06.being mathematically perfect. It has got to be Bach, everything is just
:43:07. > :43:17.right on the right point, topiary is just like that.
:43:18. > :43:24.When you look at a tree like this, it is difficult not to feel the
:43:25. > :43:29.presence of the tree. It is Mozart. It is confident and it is bold and
:43:30. > :43:32.slightly unusual in the way it is arranged. But it is just hugely
:43:33. > :43:43.successful. So listening to the music of Bach
:43:44. > :43:47.and Mozart, I started to craft a garden which is essentially composed
:43:48. > :43:49.of two parts. We had at the Central position in the garden is a
:43:50. > :43:58.performance space. That end of the garden in is
:43:59. > :44:06.inspired by the music of Bach, an area of Denison garden with some
:44:07. > :44:12.glue that peeps through and sparkles in the little light. By contrast,
:44:13. > :44:16.the front terrace, the opposite end of the garden, is much more
:44:17. > :44:20.extravagant, picking up teams of Mozart's work. Like a herbaceous
:44:21. > :44:29.carnival being performed before your eyes. And it occurred to me that it
:44:30. > :44:34.would be wonderful to not only have this historic reference to the music
:44:35. > :44:40.being the narrative of the garden, but is it possible to give a
:44:41. > :44:44.younger, more contemporary composer the opportunity to reflect how they
:44:45. > :44:50.feel about the garden? And so that is why the national youth Orchestra
:44:51. > :44:54.had been involved in the project and one of their composers, a
:44:55. > :44:57.17-year-old girl Lauren Marshall, has been selected to compose a very
:44:58. > :45:05.contemporary piece of music and ultimately perform it in the garden.
:45:06. > :45:14.So, a few weeks out of Chelsea, what is left to do? Lauren is finishing
:45:15. > :45:19.her composition, I have ordered the materials and now I just have to
:45:20. > :45:22.tend the thousands of plants sitting here in the nursery, because I
:45:23. > :45:24.decided to grow my own plant material this year, and that is a
:45:25. > :45:35.completely different challenge. This is where I started out, growing
:45:36. > :45:41.plants. There is something magical about when you open the glasshouse
:45:42. > :45:44.door first thing in the morning, the humidity and fragrance, and you
:45:45. > :45:49.start to see the rewards of your efforts. It is what motivated me to
:45:50. > :45:53.be a gardener. There is something just very quiet. You can catch your
:45:54. > :45:58.breath and just think about why you are doing what you are doing. What
:45:59. > :46:05.is this project you are embarking on. You begin to understand how they
:46:06. > :46:08.grow. And then you can start to think about how best they will knit
:46:09. > :46:17.together in this bizarre jigsaw that is Chelsea Flower Show.
:46:18. > :46:23.Music is very pictorial, and what I do was a job is to paint pictures
:46:24. > :46:25.with plants, so to bring those together, that is the exercise, and
:46:26. > :46:37.it's a joy. I can't believe you made fractal
:46:38. > :46:47.theory make sense even to me! It is based on the patterns of
:46:48. > :46:52.nature and how they relate to gardens and where they occur
:46:53. > :46:56.elsewhere, and of course music, the understanding of music, is an
:46:57. > :46:59.integral part of that understanding. The National youth Orchestra were
:47:00. > :47:04.here performing that piece that has been written just for this garden.
:47:05. > :47:07.And wasn't it fantastic? It is one of those things where I believe that
:47:08. > :47:12.there was an overlap between gardens and music, the Bakambu La Roux was,
:47:13. > :47:15.but there must be something else, both stimulate the emotions and
:47:16. > :47:28.massage the soul, and when you put those things together, undoubtedly
:47:29. > :47:37.that was an amplification. This is a garden, yours is a garden, and that
:47:38. > :47:43.is what people want, this is a garden design show. It pulls many
:47:44. > :47:46.strands together, it is about not only getting communities and
:47:47. > :47:53.children involved, whether it is the artwork in the roof, the school who
:47:54. > :48:00.are the recipients of it, the planting that stimulates community
:48:01. > :48:04.gardens. It is about talking about the beauty of community garden and
:48:05. > :48:10.inspiring people. You have a silvergilt medal. I said
:48:11. > :48:16.definite gold medal. Have you had feedback? How are you feeling? I
:48:17. > :48:18.think the Garden speaks for itself, and we didn't necessarily come here
:48:19. > :48:24.chasing medals, I think that is a lost cause. You come here presenting
:48:25. > :48:28.what you believe has integrity and reality, and a garden that people
:48:29. > :48:32.can connect with, and you do the best that you can, and listen to the
:48:33. > :48:37.response of gardeners rather than the self elected, and you suddenly
:48:38. > :48:41.realise that actually what matters is the fact that you have produced
:48:42. > :48:47.this beauty which massages the soul in a way that is indescribable.
:48:48. > :48:49.Gardening changes people's lives. And I love your garden. It is
:48:50. > :48:51.fantastic. We see the arts and garden design
:48:52. > :48:54.working together so well time So it's no surprise that people
:48:55. > :48:58.from both worlds are drawn here. Monty is joined by
:48:59. > :49:03.former fashion designer Most people may know
:49:04. > :49:10.you for your fashion design but you have another string
:49:11. > :49:22.to your bow now - tell us more! I would prefer they know me as a
:49:23. > :49:26.sculptor. You have been sculpting for a while. For more than 30 years,
:49:27. > :49:32.while I was a fashion designer, but fashion obviously took over, and it
:49:33. > :49:36.is true that people recognise me as a fashion designer, but maybe one
:49:37. > :49:41.day. I would take that as flattery, because your work when I was in
:49:42. > :49:46.fashion in the 80s, you were a great star. Thank you for saying that. I
:49:47. > :49:51.never realised, only one I stopped five years ago, that actually I was
:49:52. > :49:57.really well-known as a fashion designer. But while I was doing it,
:49:58. > :50:01.you concentrate on your work everyday and you don't think about
:50:02. > :50:05.project outside. And your garden? I do have a garden, but it's a green
:50:06. > :50:14.garden, I don't particularly like flowers. Only when they are coming
:50:15. > :50:20.out from bushes. I never plant a flower. I hate seeing them dying, so
:50:21. > :50:28.what I love about bushes is they come back every year. It seems to me
:50:29. > :50:33.that you come to Chelsea with the particular qualities of a sculptor,
:50:34. > :50:36.so you have form and space, and colour and texture is, but what did
:50:37. > :50:43.you see here at Chelsea that caught your eye? My favourite garden, which
:50:44. > :50:49.is surprising because I like natural gardens, is actually a garden which
:50:50. > :50:59.has been thought of very cleverly. It is a Japanese garden. So this is
:51:00. > :51:03.a garden that is peaceful. It is not a natural garden, it has been
:51:04. > :51:14.planted carefully by the Japanese artist, but it reflects such peace
:51:15. > :51:21.that you want to go in and sit down and just go within yourself and
:51:22. > :51:28.think. Was there anything that particularly caught your Ayimba
:51:29. > :51:34.pavilion? I was really struck by the cactuses. There is a stand where you
:51:35. > :51:39.have a lot of colours, and I am not somebody who likes colour, but they
:51:40. > :51:46.come from the tiny little flowers which emerge from those spiky
:51:47. > :51:51.cactuses, and I do like cactuses, I have them in France in my garden,
:51:52. > :51:57.and they are the only thing that can grow under the pine trees, because
:51:58. > :52:05.the houses by the sea. So I have a cactus garden and I enjoy very much
:52:06. > :52:09.the time of the year where the flowers come from. Thank you for
:52:10. > :52:10.coming to Chelsea and sharing your views with us, it has been a joy.
:52:11. > :52:18.Thank you, Monty. Well, it's the moment you've
:52:19. > :52:20.all been waiting for, it's time to announce who's won
:52:21. > :52:23.the most coveted prize of them all, the piece de
:52:24. > :52:25.resistance on Main Avenue - the Best Large Show
:52:26. > :52:29.Garden winner for 2017. Here's Sue Biggs,
:52:30. > :52:42.Director General of the RHS, James, congratulations, you have won
:52:43. > :52:49.a gold medal. This one seems to me that you have taken a landscape, but
:52:50. > :52:55.it has become conceptualised, and it looks like a piece of modern art,
:52:56. > :52:58.but it is true to its origins. We took the idea from the traditional
:52:59. > :53:05.Maltese quarry techniques, the Plum line of the cliff, the graphic
:53:06. > :53:08.quality of the cutting, and then the standing stones with a brutalist
:53:09. > :53:15.quality, and I got very excited about that as an architect. I'm
:53:16. > :53:21.sorry to interrupt your interview. But I have something really
:53:22. > :53:23.important to tell James. Your beautiful garden has won the Best
:53:24. > :53:36.Show Garden. CHEERING
:53:37. > :53:43.Congratulations. I'm afraid it's a setup. That was a
:53:44. > :53:49.lot of chitchat! How wonderful is that? Thank you very much. Thank you
:53:50. > :53:54.very much indeed for breaking up the interview and this much deserved
:53:55. > :53:58.award. I figure this fantastic. I have got so much pleasure from this
:53:59. > :54:04.garden, but it does divide people, doesn't it? It does. Tell me the
:54:05. > :54:09.story about it. It is a garden based on a quarry, so it is based on
:54:10. > :54:14.something I am passionate about. I love to see how vegetation comes
:54:15. > :54:17.back in areas of minimal resources. I am really into Mediterranean
:54:18. > :54:23.plants for the same reasons. There is very little rainfall, high
:54:24. > :54:29.sunshine, often high, salty winds, and to see plants surviving and not
:54:30. > :54:33.looking perfect but natural and cranky and wonderful, for me is very
:54:34. > :54:41.exciting. I suppose for a lot of people when they come to Chelsea,
:54:42. > :54:46.they say, is this a garden? Yes. Or is it a stage set? What is the
:54:47. > :54:50.answer? This is an edited landscape, which means, yes, the plants have
:54:51. > :54:55.naturalised, and there are blocks of the grand naturally, not naturally
:54:56. > :54:59.but post-quarrying. They would be more staggered in the quarry, but we
:55:00. > :55:07.have organised them and made them into a man conceived pattern, and
:55:08. > :55:10.organise the plants by editing, by weeding, so we have taken at plants
:55:11. > :55:15.we don't like, added plants, and really studying the French
:55:16. > :55:21.communities between the steppe vegetation, pavement vegetation, so
:55:22. > :55:27.that those French communities are quite hard to maintain. And you have
:55:28. > :55:31.put in a swimming pool? We have, it is a garden and it is for pleasure,
:55:32. > :55:36.and in the heat of Malta, you need to cool off. And briefly,
:55:37. > :55:38.environmentally, this is something you are passionate about,
:55:39. > :55:43.particularly with the Maltese quarry is? Malta is on the southern tip of
:55:44. > :55:50.Europe, and it is suffering from lack of water, rising temperatures
:55:51. > :55:53.and overpopulation. And so it is really having to deal with all the
:55:54. > :55:58.things that we potentially would be dealing with in years to come. And
:55:59. > :56:02.they at the moment have been slightly abusing their landscape,
:56:03. > :56:07.and this is really a message to say, look at what you have got and please
:56:08. > :56:11.cherish it. Well, look at what we have got, we have a wonderful
:56:12. > :56:12.garden, you have best in show, congratulations. Thank you very
:56:13. > :56:17.much. And don't forget, if you don't agree
:56:18. > :56:20.with the RHS's decision, you can have your say from tomorrow
:56:21. > :56:23.when we'll be launching this year's It's your chance to be
:56:24. > :56:26.judge and jury on this Tomorrow evening we'll be giving
:56:27. > :56:31.you a rundown of all eight gardens in contention along with the details
:56:32. > :56:33.on how you can vote Your winner will be revealed
:56:34. > :56:45.on BBC One on Friday night. That will be interesting to see if
:56:46. > :56:48.it matches with the judges themselves.
:56:49. > :56:51.All week we've been asking you to join in the conversation
:56:52. > :56:54.on the hashtag ask Monty and Joe and here are a few
:56:55. > :57:02.John Lewis asks if we have any plans to do a show garden together. I know
:57:03. > :57:06.what would happen if we did. You would wander around with your tablet
:57:07. > :57:12.doing fancy designs and I'd be in the corner with the pics -- pickaxe
:57:13. > :57:18.and a spade, digging. I am quite up for it now! Rachel asks what do we
:57:19. > :57:23.think is the most influential Chelsea trend from the past few
:57:24. > :57:28.years. That is an interesting one. Probably it is the way that
:57:29. > :57:30.landscapes have been the source of inspiration for people making
:57:31. > :57:37.gardens out of landscapes, conceptual Gardens. Yes, and I also
:57:38. > :57:40.think people used to want perfect planting, full flower, now if
:57:41. > :57:46.something is coming into flower or has seeded and gone over, real
:57:47. > :57:47.planting, I think people are a lot more relaxed about that here these
:57:48. > :57:59.days. I think that is so. Well, that brings us to the end
:58:00. > :58:10.of what's been a muted Hardly surprising after last night's
:58:11. > :58:11.events in Manchester. But nevertheless, congratulations to the
:58:12. > :58:14.designers and exhibitors. Nicki Chapman and James Wong
:58:15. > :58:17.are back tomorrow at 3.45pm on BBC One as they kick
:58:18. > :58:19.off our floral celebration Plus Carol Vorderman
:58:20. > :58:22.will be joining in the fun. We'll be back tomorrow night
:58:23. > :58:25.at the same time on BBC Two. We'll be joined by legendary
:58:26. > :58:27.plantsman Roy Lancaster and we'll have all the medal results
:58:28. > :59:03.from the Great Pavilion. ..team them up with
:59:04. > :59:06.a Michelin starred chef,