Episode 1 RHS Flower Show Tatton Park

Hello and welcome to the heart of the Cheshire countryside

for the Royal Horticultural Society's Flower Show, Tatton Park.

It may be the final stop on our flower show journey this summer,

but there's still plenty of gardening inspiration

Tatton doesn't get the plaudits of Chelsea, but then nothing does. But

it has its own atmosphere. There is a charm about the show. I love it. I

think it's got a strong identity that has changed over the years and,

for me, is bringing through young designers and young plants people

and they are cutting their teeth, and it's a great thing. I like the

way we are not in the Home Counties but in the north of England, it's

proud, it belongs here and that gives its character. So far, so good

with the weather. It's always a changeable feast. Over the next half

an hour, Carol Klein celebrates the late summer blooms in the Floral

Marquee and shares her tips for growing and maintaining those

chameleons of colour, hydrangeas. Youth is centre stage at Tatton

once again, as young designers and landscapers

are challenged to work together to create their first

ever show gardens. I'll be reviewing their efforts

and revealing the winners in this innovative competition later

in the show. It's harvest time at Tatton,

as champion growers from across the UK bring their prize

produce to the competitive arena that is the Summer Fruit

and Vegetable Pavilion. We've got all this for you to enjoy

from the RHS flower show Tatton Park, an event supplied by Bruntwood

Properties. To share your thoughts, you can do so on Facebook or you can

tweet. First, let's turn to the show gardens, and there are three

categories, each of which highlights the skills of established as well as

new designers. Earlier, Monty, Arit and myself went to take a look at

some of the impressive designs in each category.

There are six large show gardens this year. Because these are the big

set pieces. Each one has its own style and its own story. And this

one is the Gabriel Ash Greenhouse Garden, denied by Lilly Gomm. As far

as the planting goes, you will immediately notice the tree ferns,

which are very present. This is a shady end of the garden, which tree

ferns and the like would absolutely love. You have what is fundamentally

a green and slightly purplish touch to the colour. The planting moves

either side of a large dark pool. You have this black empty space,

which gives a feeling of generosity to the garden. It compliments the

intensity of the planting. Which is growing in colour, so you've got all

of these, you got dahlias, rising to a crescendo with bananas either side

of the greenhouse. The garden culminates here in the greenhouse,

and it's lovely. It's part conservatory, part potting shed. It

just a really good garden space. My guess that most of us would dream of

having a greenhouse like this. But there's a poignancy here. Lilly

Gomm, the designer, who is young, told me that she sees no chance of

owning a house and a garden in which to put a greenhouse. And, for her,

like the rest of us, when the show ends, the dream will disappear.

This is the Live Garden, one of three conceptual creations in the

Future Spaces category. These designs leap ahead in time to

promote innovative and exciting possibilities of how we may live in

cities in decades to come. Dan, a very ambitious garden with three

levels. What was the inspiration? We were thinking that gardens in the

future would need to make use of space, so we decided to embark on a

rather large adventure of digging up 200 tonnes of soil to create a

basement room. We've got the ground level and you got in at the tier for

sunbathing and relaxing. -- an upper tier. There are a lot of details

which don't come to light straightaway. This table is

foldaway, which gives you more space in the communal area. You have some

loungers on the top deck to catch some reason. Another detail is there

is a light wall in the basement which helps you create different

atmospheres and moods because you can change the colours accordingly.

The planting, there is a lot of it, but it seems to be in different

zones. What is going on with that? We tried to create different

atmospheres in different levels, so in the basement there are cool

colours and large leaves. In the middle level, there are different

colours and foliage, texture and form, representing the eclectic mix

and meeting point of the garden. At the top, there are lots of warm

colours, which is a beacon for the garden, attracting insects and

birds. You have managed to pack a locked into the garden, and I think

there is so much for the future we can look at. Well done. Thank you.

The size of gardens can vary greatly across the RHS flower show

season, but none come smaller or more compact than the final

category of gardens here at Tatton - the Back-to-Backs.

Inspired by the tiny backyards commonplace across the terraced

streets of the north of England, designers have a space measuring

just six metres by four metres to work their horticultural magic.

So they really test a designer. Small, compact, Bijou, whatever, it

doesn't mean there are not great ideas here for you to take home and

use in your own space. This design has taken his

inspiration from a much yards are garden -- much larger garden. How'd

you get a large garden into a small one? You don't, but you can distil

those ideas and create something special. James has used a simple

technique, putting the paving on a diagonal, which gets rid of the

rectangular feel of the space. The borders start breaking into the

middle, which makes it much more interesting and helps lead you

through with this herbaceous planting either side. This arbour,

nicely shaded and surrounded by wonderfully scented plants, like the

star jasmine, sweet peas and lavenders. What is nice about this

garden for me is that Sam Youd, James's dad, was the head gardener

here for many years, and this is his first ever show garden, so it's nice

to keep the family connection with Tatton Park itself. This garden is

called Relaxation, Meditation and it was conceived after one of the

designers, Paul, had been meditating for three years, not solid, he's got

gardens to make! The idea is it is in retreat space where you can do

some yoga and completely chill out. I think the water feature is a

triumph, breaking up that already nicely, and the sound is just right.

It could detract from the noise of traffic or noisy neighbours, the

planting is generally soft. I think the ponytail grass links the beds

nicely together. For me, there is one no-no in the planting, and that

is under planting the bamboos with lavender. For me, that doesn't work,

but I'm nit-picking now and getting stressed out. I need to relax, chill

out and let it wash right over me. If you want a change from the show

gardens, you have the Floral Marquee and, at Tatton, it is huge and

packed with plants, all at their best, and with a wider variety than

at any other time of the year. But there is a direct connection to the

gardens, and Carol has been in there, looking at the plant is that

the designers of the garden have chosen their planting schemes.

I love Tatton, that time of year when all of these late flowering

perennials really reach their peak. The whole thing is celebratory, and

nothing more so than these North American daisies, plants of the

prairies. I suppose the most typical one is this one. Heleniums are

gorgeous, I love the way they have got these velvet doorknob centres

which become bright yellow. This one is called Mardi Gras, and it

certainly reminds you of the carnival. I love the way it used

here, with the soft grasses. Outside in the gardens, designers can really

show us how to use these plants in our own gardens on a bigger scale.

Here, heleniums are used in a quite different way. Big splashes of

orange amongst this very green, vernal background. It knits

beautifully, but they draw your eye. I love the idea they've been used

alongside perennials and other plants to create this lovely, dreamy

effect. Any meadow has to have grass at its heart, and here this one

melds all of the planting together. Grasses again in this delightful

garden. This time, miscanthus. And loads more heleniums, but they are

nearly all in bud, and here they form a perfect skirt around these.

It is really wild, this. You can grab it from seed easily, and don't

these rigid stems really set it off? Especially against the soft tassles.

This one has got a soft, gentle, informal sort of look, but there are

some cannas which reach truly he-man proportions.

Now, that's what you call a magnificent canna. This one is dark,

dramatic, almost dangerous. This wonderful present in the border. It

makes all that growth in one year. And don't you think it's orange

flowers look just like those silk handkerchiefs produced from a

magician's sleeve. The whole plant is magical.

Providing they've got ample organic matter underneath their roots, these

will thrive just about anywhere. I love the way they are used in this

Mediterranean setting. You are almost there, on one of those

sunbaked slopes. And the combination between these orange and yellow

gorgeous flowers with all of this grey foliage is a real winner. The

way these plants are used, both in the marquee and out here in the

gardens, is so inspiring. It gives you so many ideas about how to make

your late summer borders come to light.

The Floral Marquee and Carol Klein, a marriage made in heaven. Inside

this marquee, a special event is held every year, and one that Tatton

Park is very proud to present. It's the glorious summer fruit

and vegetable competition, which plays host to some

of the most perfectly presented It all seems very sedate in here,

but actually the rivalry matches anything you'll find on a football

field. Passionate growers from across

the country harvest their seasonal crops and bring them to Tatton

to take home coveted prizes. Ideally, first prize. The judges are

experienced and they will go through all of these wonderful plates,

looking for nothing but perfection. Just look at these shall nots. They

so nicely laid out with bits of raffia tying the tops. My eye is

drawn to this one, and I picked a good one, because it won first

prize. I can see why. These cabbages are enormous, they're ridiculous,

they would feed a family for weeks! In this category, horticultural

societies come together and put out six different plates of fruit, and

they're absolutely stunning. Somebody has had a gooseberry! You

can't come and eat the fruit! I'm here with the undeniable queen of

potatoes. She not only won first in three categories, but also won the

best plate of vegetables in the whole show. Lovely to see you again.

I have got a social media question from Tim, he says, what went wrong

with his potatoes underneath? It could be the food all the nutrients,

too much nitrogen will cause lots of leaf. As far as the small potatoes

are concerned, it might just be that we have had a very dry seasons so

perhaps they needed a bit more water. Fantastic. Congratulations,

beautiful displays, I have to say. So, it's not just a lovely fruit and

vegetables here, you can also talk to the expert growers and get some

fabulous advice. I have got a photograph of myself aged four

kneeling in the strawberry beds, stealing those forbidden fruit. And

I can remember to this day the smell of the warm earth and the

strawberries. However fragile and fleeting those memories are, they do

persist, and there's one garden here at Tatton called Remember Me, which

uses that to provoke and stimulate the memories of those suffering from

dementia. Toby has been along to have a look. This Remember Me garden

is so much more than a garden. It is a working space that tells a story.

The borders are filled with what you might call granny's favourites,

nasturtium, rubbing shoulders with parsley and African marigolds. At

the way they are planted together is quite clever. This side of the

garden, they're quite coherent, but as you move through the space, the

garden becomes a bit more, well, bitty, representing the journey that

a dementia sufferer has from initial diagnosis, right through to 24-hour

bed care. And that's where these hospital beds come in, they're

filled with herbs, includingft, known to help you sleep easier at

night. Dementia Gardens need to have a circular design, because if you

suffer from the disease, it is important that you find your way

back to where you have come from. Any disparity can looked like a

chasm, so the colour is very important, if your eyesight is

diminishing, as dementia takes hold. But the real genius lies in tackling

such an important issue so sensitively. This isn't elected, it

is a conversation point, and that's exactly what the best show gardens

should be. Hydrangeas are applied that remind me of the past. But the

wheel has turned and they're now the height of fashion. Harold Klein has

been to find out why. -- Carol. Hydrangeas, you can't ignore them,

they charmed you with the volume of their flowers and the soft and

beautiful colours. You can grow hydrangeas almost anywhere, up the

wall, in your borders, or even if you haven't got a garden, in a pot.

As for their colour, in some gardens they're pink, in sum, they're blue.

If your soil is on the acid side, they will be blue. If it is on the

alkaline side, they will be pink. But don't try and change it, just go

with what you've got. Or better still, grow a white one! If there is

anything you want to know about hydrangeas, the bloke you've got to

go and see is Paul. Hydrangeas used to be thought of as sort of

old-fashioned, but you've revolutionised it? Not particularly

me, but the breeders have put a lot of work in to bring them up to

datelook at that one, it's beautiful. Also, the big, soft

flowers, as opposed to something like this, the tight bouquet, what

about this one? This one has the semi double flower, it is an

absolute cracker. Some of these are famous for having green flowers?

Yeah. This one does get a little bit unruly, to say the least, and it can

grow from nothing to 6ft in a year! We have got a couple of questions on

social media. This one wants to know the best time to take a hydrangea

cutting? You can take soft cuttings during the growing season. You would

take it in late September, early October. Next question - why might

the hydrangeas not be flowering? They are healthy but they have got

no flowers? First of all, the key is in the pruning. If you remove too

much of the stem, then inadvertently you are taking of the flower buds

and throwing them away. Secondly, it could be positioned. They like

dappled shade, if you have them into much shade, they might not flower.

Number three is actually feeding them far too much. Too much

nitrogen? Exactly. You get a big, glorious plant, very little or no

flower. Thanks so much, Paul. Glorious, really beautiful. Thank

you very much indeed, I'm very proud. Thank you.

Over recent years, Tatton has built a reputation as a launch pad

for new horticultural talent, a place for young people

starting out in the industry to showcase their potential.

This status has been solidified with the addition of the RHS

Young Planting Designer and Landscape Contractor Competition,

Once again, six debutants from the worlds of landscaping

and planting have been set the challenge of working

together in pairs to build their first show gardens.

Earlier, Monty went to take a look at the three finished gardens.

This one is Let 'em Grow, an urban retreat by Karl Crowe and Guilio

Passarelli. It is almost unlike any front garden you have ever seen. It

is packed with plants, immediately making you feel lush and cool. This

is a space that is defying the modern urban world and creating its

own little space, however small it might be. With a seat halfway down,

you look up onto a meadow, there's a little greenhouse which you can also

use as a conservatory. It is really full of stuff, and I would almost

say slightly too busy in one respect. The paving is a little bit

distracting, it's like a busy carpet in a room with lots of other things.

If that had been a bit simpler, I would say this would come together

in a really extraordinary way. As it is, it's a very special garden. This

garden is called Range Rearrange. It Is Another Retreat but this time, it

is a rural one. I like the way that it takes a theme and sticks with it.

That theme is using flowers as cut flowers to dry, pressed through the

glass. The process of trying them is incorporated into the design, and I

like the way that the landscaping picks up the faded tones and

textures of the dried flowers. And the idea that even with flowers, you

can recycle them, there is a use for them after their life within the

border. And it goes to show that, as ever, a simple idea done well always

makes a good garden. This garden is called Chaos To

Coastline. It is made by Ben Poulter and Elliot Hood. I like the way it

captures the simplicity of the coast, the planting is simple, you

have got wonderful agapanthus, some lavender, and what is particularly

good, I like the way that the hard landscaping is very confident. The

one thing I think probably is a mistake is this living wall, it

doesn't need it, the grasses along the back would have done fine. But

that is a minor quibble. There is also a feature which all the best

beaches have, which is a shower. Not only does it look very stylish and

condiments the rest of the garden, it also actually works! So, if

you're feeling rather too hot here in Tatton, this is the place to come

and cool off. Sue, we are just in the second year of this landscape

plant Association, and it feels like it belongs here at Tatton. It really

does, doesn't it? It's brilliant. There is so much about, youth, in

horticulture. Everybody you see here is 28 or under. And these three

beautiful gardens, they're so talented. Also the fact that they

haven't worked together, they don't know each other, quite daunting?

Very much so, but we have deliberately done that, to combine

two skills, the planting designer and the landscape, because in the

future, they will have to work with people they don't know. That is part

of the challenge. And this is the place where certainly the likes of

myself come to see what's going on? We very deliberately made this the

personality for Tatton park, to have this where people could come and be

inspired by Jim people who got such talent, and many of them have gone

on to design in other, larger shows, for example, at Chelsea. Do you see

it as a hierarchy, that people work their way up to Chelsea, or is it

enough just to do really well here, because it's Tatton Park and this is

where the best young design is? I think for young designers,

absolutely. There is nowhere else in this country, from the two

competitions we ran for young designers, there is nowhere like

this. If you are a young designer, Tatton Park is the show to come to.

The time has come when we have to announce the winner of the landscape

and the planting. We do indeed. So, here we are, and we're going to

start first of all with the RHS Young Landscaper 2017. And it's

going to Elliot Hood! Congratulations! Beautiful garden!

Congratulations! It was a tough one to choose? Very tough, I'm glad I'm

not a judge. Now, equally important... We are delighted to

announce that the Young Planting Designer Of The Year goes to Ben

Poulter. Many, many congratulations! A beautiful garden. Over the moon,

don't know what to say, to be honest. It's been a wicked

experience working with them, absolute pleasure. From doing a

small, little design, working with Elliott on it, and creating

something absolutely incredible. I'm very, very lucky that I've met a

good contractor. You know, Joe, I find the quality of the work done by

the young designers here at Tatton Park gets better and better, and

it's really exciting, it bodes well for the future. It is, it's

exciting, the next generation of landscapers and designers working

together. You can see it here right now, and it's giving the show its

identity, too. Which brings us to tomorrow.

Well, that's all we have time for tonight from Tatton Park,

but we'll be back tomorrow at 7:30pm on BBC Two, when we'll be putting

the spotlight on the new kids on the horticultural block,

in the RHS Young Designer of the Year competition.

Carol will be investigating why cacti and succulents have

become "the" house plants of the flower show season.

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