Formal Gardens The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge

The Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show

is the most prestigious flower show on the planet.

Chelsea is the best place in the world.

It's that one time and that one place where everything coincides.

The best plants, the best designers, the best landscapers,

the best materials.

Everything is there just for that one very special week in May

that is the Chelsea Flower Show.

Every year, the best designers spend hundreds of thousands of pounds

creating gardens in the hope of gaining global recognition.

CHEERING

Now, for the first time, the RHS is offering one talented amateur

designer the chance to launch

a brand-new career by building a garden on Main Avenue.

Hundreds applied for the biggest prize in gardening

and six passionate designers were chosen.

Now they will have to prove they can cut it with the best of the best.

Once you get through those Chelsea gates,

you're in with the big boys and there isn't any space for mistakes.

They'll be advised by Joe Swift,

one of the country's leading designers.

That is...is bad.

They're going to mark you down for that.

They'll have to master different garden styles as they design...

I just need to get it smaller, that's the main thing.

..construct...

Got to be so careful in case it snaps.

..and plant...

They're just monsters, but they're going in!

..to impress Chelsea Flower Show judge James Alexander-Sinclair

and gold medal-winning designer Ann-Marie Powell.

Every time I try and think about it, my mind just starts racing.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Chelsea is only a short step away now.

Last time, the six amateur designers created a cottage show garden.

I love it. I think I've fallen in love with it already.

Steph, this is planting day.

You've got two landscapers watching you lay a block.

They were tested primarily on their planting skills.

What I've managed to do,

I've managed to snip off one of the few flowers.

After four days of hard graft, their finished gardens face

the scrutiny of the judges.

I'm going to be brutally honest at this point,

and I have a fearful worry that this garden is basically a mess.

Theatre is absolutely top-notch.

Sean scooped gold with his coal miner's garden.

Jo didn't plant enough...

God, I can't bear it. I'm not looking.

..and was sent home.

Now, it's time for their second test.

In this next garden, it's design skills that will be

under particular scrutiny.

Welcome to Sudeley Castle, in the heart of The Cotswolds.

Our hunt for a great amateur garden designer continues.

There are now five designers in the running,

and this time they're going to create a formal garden.

One of them will get the judges' gold,

but for one designer, the road to Chelsea ends here.

The designers have spent the last week juggling their day jobs

and drawing up their formal garden plans and plant lists.

Now they need to translate them on to a four-by-four metre plot.

-Steph?

-Steph is there.

This is me.

-There I am.

-Are you two together again?

-We're together again.

-Oh, I see.

Like that, is it, huh?

BOTH: It's the boys versus the girls. LAUGHTER

-Steph.

-Yeah.

-Come on!

Spirits may be high, but the judges James Alexander-Sinclair

and Ann-Marie Powell will be watching their every move.

At least they have Joe Swift as their mentor.

-Well, hello, everybody. ALL:

-Hello.

-Hi.

-What a setting, hey?

-Gorgeous.

-For a formal garden, what could be better?

This has been here since Richard III's time.

You've got just four days to build a garden.

I think this took a little longer than that.

I hope you learnt a lot from last time.

-I sorted the weather out for you.

-Yeah.

-Whoo-hoo.

You've got four days. Go for it.

I think it'll be harder this week cos I think

the pressure's on. You know, we've all sussed each other out.

And, you know, we know where the competition is.

So, yeah, it feels as though it's gone up a notch, definitely.

This week the bar has been raised.

Creating a formal show garden will be the ultimate test

of their design skills.

Traditional or contemporary,

to be strictly formal

all the gardens should display several key characteristics.

Symmetry, crisp lines,

a restricted plant palette

and plenty of evergreens.

Once you know the basic rules, you can

get as complicated or intricate as you like.

Take this garden for example,

1,200 box plants creating this incredibly strong structure.

But it's still symmetrical.

It folds in half this way and it folds again this way too.

And in the gaps you can put anything want.

Here, there's some papyrus and some water and some simple gravel,

but you can put roses, perennials, annual plants...

You can stamp your personality onto your garden.

A gruelling four days of physical work lies ahead.

One of the main criteria they'll be judged on at the end is design,

and in formal gardens, the execution must be precise.

Worms are really good for the garden but they're bloody awful,

-aren't they? Urgh. And I can't bear it when you chop them in half.

-What?

-A worm.

-Oh, no, did you?

No, I just feel... I feel awful.

42-year-old Paul Harris has spent the past two years

changing his life to become a garden designer.

He's taken a course in garden design at a London college

and wants to set up his own business.

Last week he was criticised for his complicated layout

and his unwieldy construction.

I was very worried about the scale of them.

I think they are slightly too large still.

There's no room for two people in there.

It's really, really too big, too close together.

This time he's keeping it simple.

Form gardens are harder just because you've literally got no...

You can't just cover up a mistake by putting in some extra grasses

or changing plants around.

I think this week is actually going to be a lot harder.

Paul has a straightforward layout with basic geometry

and is planning a restricted palette of box and soft-flowing plants.

He's hoping it will pull off his romantic theme of Yin and Yang.

It's perfectly symmetrical.

Yes, the idea is it's perfectly symmetrical but the content isn't.

Now, last time we were concerned, weren't we,

about scale and proportion,

and I do think you have thought about that this time, have you?

Yes, most definitely, yeah.

With this garden, there's far less structure.

Is there any structure, or is it all going to be at the same level?

There are going to be two seats in the garden,

designed for an indiv...for one person on each side.

Each seat will face towards the centre.

Can I just put one misgiving into this?

If this is a garden about love and romance,

there's nowhere for the two people to sit together

once they have got together.

So the seats are big enough for two, but they're designed for one.

But you can get two onto it and snuggle up nice and tight.

Provided that your bottoms are not too big, we'll be fine.

Oh, no. Well, unless your bottom's wider than a metre,

-then you'll be all right.

-What do you mean?!

That's wonderful. We will look forward to it. Thank you, Paul.

Each designer has been given a budget of £1,500

and, to help them with their paths and structures,

a professional landscaper.

While Gillian cements in her brick edging,

Rob is setting out his paving slabs.

Might just need to take a little bit more sort of...

That's fine. I can do that with a hand trowel actually.

Sean is working on his raised bed.

Last week, he won the judges' gold.

This week, he's going for the double.

-More stuff for you.

-Thank you, thank you.

You do realise that I've done half the work on your garden,

so if you get another gold, I want a share and I want half.

-Can I make you a cup of tea?

-No.

-THEY LAUGH

-I want half the gold.

Sean's an occupational therapist, but his passion for garden design...

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

..goes back to childhood.

He's spent a lifetime teaching himself horticultural

techniques and redesigning the gardens of everyone he knows.

I really want to win this competition.

I really want to have that garden built at Chelsea.

It means an awful lot, and I'm going to give it my all.

Sean's design is packed with references from the Far East.

The raised bed will be planted up with box and grasses

to resemble a Chinese landscape.

-Chinese Eastern gardens can be very formal, I mean...

-They are.

It's a very, very formal tradition that you've got there.

Going to try to cloud prune the box

into Japanese, Chinese type of mountains.

-Which, Japanese or Chinese?

-Chinese.

-Definitely?

-Definitely.

Because we can't start confusing our cultures here.

But there's an element of Japanese in it because I'm going to do

an ikebana Japanese flower arrangement

from the materials in the garden, which will sit on the bench.

I am concerned about mixing Japanese and Chinese.

I think you have to decide which direction you're going

-and stick with it.

-Hmm.

Oh, I just got a worm.

These formal show gardens will be judged on four of the criteria

used at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The wow factor, or theatre,

how well they've delivered their formal brief,

the quality of their designs...

-It's too big.

-Yeah, these need cutting.

..and horticultural knowledge.

A basic mistake could end their dreams of Chelsea.

As always, their mentor, Joe, is here to give advice

and to help them improve.

Can you listen up, everybody?

This is called a GGA.

GGA is a general gravel announcement.

Paul, Gillian, Rob, Steph,

why are you all putting in gravel now?

You're only going to make a mess.

As soon as you start digging over your soil,

you've already got soil in your gravel.

It should be the last thing that goes in.

Have you lot learnt nothing?

It takes you, what, maybe ten minutes,

half an hour to get the gravel actually onto the plot, OK?

Nice and clean, rake it over, walk off, job done.

Simple as that.

Don't say I didn't warn you! Don't say.

The youngest competitor,

23-year-old supermarket worker Steph, is taking Joe's advice.

I worry about timing.

Yeah, there's just loads to do.

Last week, Steph struggled with her schedule.

-Not long.

-Right.

I hate it, I'm not happy.

You've got a couple of plants to go in here, right?

Bosh them in. You really are into boshing stage.

Yeah, I am.

It's a lot of hard work designing the garden,

but you've just got to keep thinking,

"Oh, it's Chelsea at the end. I've got to push and keep going!"

Steph has had a lifelong dream to work with plants.

For the past three years, she's juggled her English degree

studies with garden design exams and a job in a supermarket

to fund her beloved allotment.

Steph has chosen a musical theme for her garden.

The focal point is a bench.

Her angular beds will be filled with colourful shrubs

and she'll gain height from a row of cherry trees.

It does have a kind of geometry to this garden,

-so that's where the formal comes in.

-Yeah.

But it's kind of informal-formal, isn't it?

-Is that because...

-I don't like formal, no.

-THEY LAUGH

-I thought so.

You're sneaking in a bit of cottage garden when we're not looking.

-No, no, I'm not.

-You're trying to!

-No, I'm using a lot of shrubs.

The designers have been on the go for five hours.

Building a garden at Chelsea will require stamina and determination.

This is fun, though, isn't it?

Within the formal brief, the designers can do what they want,

apart from one requirement -

each garden must include a piece of topiary.

Topiary is the art of shaping evergreen shrubs,

like box or yew, into intricate shapes.

Its popularity dates back to Roman times.

The designers can choose whatever shape they want,

but they must be careful to maintain the balance

and structure of their designs.

They're huge!

As topiary is somewhat niche, this is a first for all of them.

Get creative.

And just remember -

-once you've cut it off, you can't put it back.

-You can't put it back!

But what I want to do is reduce the height down as much as I can.

I'm attempting a swirl, but it's just so big.

So the string is supposed to give me some kind of line to work to.

And then I'm going to spray a shape and then cut the shape out

and hopefully it'll look something

like a Mr Whippy ice cream by the time I've finished.

Sean's topiary will take centre stage in his raised bed.

One false move could cost him dear.

-This is a...Oriental mountain.

-That's the excuse.

-Not Chinese, not Japanese - Oriental.

-Oriental, you've gone Oriental.

THEY LAUGH

-Yeah, we're not having any...

-He'll change to "Eastern" soon.

-BOTH:

-Yeah.

It is going to resemble an Oriental landscape.

Yeah. Hopefully.

Gillian is a former Army officer

and has just retired after 27 years' government service.

She's retraining to be a garden designer.

Mine's going in the centre of my bloody garden.

But I've got my paving stones set now,

I can't dig a whole gap that will fit this in.

Despite being given the measurements beforehand,

she's underestimated the size.

Gillian, how's it going?

Um, absolute rubbish.

-I just need to get it smaller, that's the main thing.

-OK.

On the basis of it won't fit and it's going to ruin any garden I'm doing.

Gillian has designed a classic traditional courtyard garden.

Her topiary will sit in the centre of the strict geometry,

surrounded by evergreen plants.

There is no deliberation whether it's formal or not.

But what do you think of her design?

It's fine and it's straightforward and it's simple

and it's symmetrical and it's right.

But this one, more than any of the others,

is the one that is teetering dangerously on the edge of boring.

-That seems a bit strong.

-I know.

At the moment, I don't agree with you, James.

I feel really pleased and proud with Gillian

because she's done her research, obviously,

she's kind of not taking the risk,

she learnt from the mistakes that she made last time.

And she's doing something that's classic.

SHE GASPS That's dangerous.

Mastering the art of topiary can take years of dedication.

Looks good from one angle but not from that angle.

-We can see what you're trying to do.

-Yes, we can.

And we can see that perhaps you might need a little more practice

-in doing what you're doing.

-I think you might be right.

It's like giving somebody a really...

somebody you don't like a really bad haircut.

You're already getting a really good shape, look.

It goes all the way through, doesn't it?

It goes all the way through, round and round. Look.

It's very good.

Designers, tools down, please.

Stand by your creations.

Paul's is a topiary column.

It will be the only height in his Yin and Yang garden.

Steph has created a classic topiary spiral.

So has Rob!

Gillian has freestlyed with a Grecian vase shape.

And Sean has used the Japanese method of cloud pruning

to create his Oriental mountain.

So, judges, do you have a favourite?

I so enjoyed that!

But, yeah, we do have a favourite.

We really liked Gill's, didn't we?

-But Steph's is our favourite.

-It is, definitely.

Steph just came out with her shears and went, BANG, straight into it.

She knew what she was doing, and the execution of it is damn good.

Well done, Steph!

Oh, I feel really great!

It's given me a bit of confidence boost,

so it's really nice to know that I did a good job.

Back at the plots, the designers must find the perfect spot

for their topiary.

One of them - Rob - is rethinking his layout.

I'm trying to decide what to do. It's a lot bigger than I thought.

I must have got the dimensions wrong somewhere along the line.

I was placing it here.

I had the idea it would sort of come up to, you know, yay high.

LAUGHING: But it's actually about this big.

So, um, I've decided I'm going to hide it at the back.

I've got a line of cypress trees that run along the back of this

seating area, and it will just be hidden.

HE LAUGHS

So, I'm hoping no-one will notice it and it'll all be fine.

But we'll see tomorrow.

Rob has themed his garden around his love of the theatre.

His topiary will now sit behind a line of cypress trees which

form the backdrop to a pergola seat.

The dominant feature

is his chequerboard paving.

What about the chequerboard thing?

I can't bear it.

No, tell us what you really think.

It makes your eyes go a bit...funny and it's just, ooh.

I want to play chess on it, I don't want to be looking at it.

Is it a bit of a cliche as far as a surface technique is concerned?

What it does is it means that you don't have to use

quite as many plants.

I'd like it to be bolder

and great big mouthfuls rather than little nibbles.

Rob is obsessed with gardening.

He studied botany at university

and volunteers in the gardens of a country estate.

Chelsea is the gardening World Cup.

It is the best place to be for gardens,

and the thought of being able to get there and to put on a garden is...

I get goose bumps just talking about it.

And that could be taken away very, very soon.

..wants to be put in there, really.

It's been a punishing day,

but after nine hours, the landscaping is all but complete.

Sean's raised bed is finished and full of soil.

Steph, Gillian and Paul have laid their path edging.

And Rob's chequerboard paving is finally finished.

They've had all the help they can.

From now on, the designers will be their own.

The designers have come to one of the UK's largest nurseries

to choose the plants for their designs.

Chelsea Show Gardens use only the most stunning combinations.

Plants must be at their best.

The judges will expect nothing less.

I have died and gone to heaven...

..cos this is just...

Well, I want to run in there and do kind of jazz hands.

Choosing the right combination of plants is critical.

Yeah, I'll take those two. They look good.

-Let me just have a look around.

-It will make or break their designs

and can really add to the sense of theatre,

a key criteria in the judging.

Not a lot there, is there, at the moment?

For his romantic modern garden, Paul is using a restricted pallet

of classic formal box with a contrasting flowing grass

to add theatre.

So these are stipa.

They are Mexican feather grass.

Whoops. And so I specifically wanted this variety because of the movement.

It's a bit like, you know, when you see fields of barley,

you know, in about June and you can almost see the wind

moving across the fields in waves.

This grass reminds me of that and I think it's just stunning.

Gillian is carefully trying to work out how many plants she needs.

She's playing it safe with classic, formal varieties.

-Buxus, Buxus, Buxus.

-Yes. Hello, Joe.

-Hello, Gillian. You've got some nice plants.

-Thank you.

-Are you pleased?

-Yeah, I am pleased, actually.

Quality is fantastic.

Yeah, little hebes are gorgeous.

They're my little edgers.

-How are you using these?

-So, where I've got the path...

-Yeah.

..edged in the brick, it's the gravel then the brick edging.

They'll be, like, next to it as an edging, so they'll go round.

-What, in a line?

-In...yeah.

They should go all the way round and where the things are.

They're quite neat. They look like a box hedging when they do,

but of course they're a lot cheaper than box

which is why I can buy so many... And you can...

They're clippable as well,

so you can make them neat and tidy, which is the plan.

Gillian, you're sounding like a proper garden designer.

It's a complete miracle. SHE LAUGHS

Despite his Oriental ambitions, Sean has also gone for some

typical European varieties mixed in with his Japanese ones.

Loving this Hakonechloa.

Hakonechloa is great. That's obviously going to work very nicely.

And you can't really have a formal garden without box.

I know, but that's too pointy, isn't it?

But, all in all, I think it's quite a good start.

But the youngest designer, Steph, is pushing her brief to the limits

and has turned her back on hundreds of years of formal

tradition by avoiding box and yew altogether.

I prefer lots of colour.

I don't know whether it's as formal as everybody else's

but it's my interpretation of formal.

Since she was knee-high, Steph has had a trowel in her hand.

And on her 21st birthday, her childhood dream came true.

She secured her very own garden in the form of an allotment.

I think I've always been in the garden, really.

Er, my mum, she's always gardened

and I just love that sense of wilderness and running free.

I'm just happier with my plants and that's why I love it so much.

I think gardening is sometimes seen as something that older people

or older generations do,

and I would like to change that.

I would love to get to Chelsea.

The second round is tough because I've really got to step it up.

I can't afford to do what I did the other week in the first round,

so I've really got to get the planting spot on.

So, here, I know you're concerned about Steph's plant selections,

-aren't you?

-I have real problems with phormiums.

-Phormiums get this big.

-Yeah.

Very kind of seaside and coastal in my opinion.

-And messy.

-Or Mediterranean. And very untidy.

In formal gardens, we don't want too much mess,

and I'm not sure if that is actually the right plant.

I think she really needs to kind of lift some of her selections

and get rid of some of these plants, actually.

What do you think about these purple prunus?

Well, I think that they're too young, aren't they?

I mean, they're very, very sort of slender stem.

She doesn't need five.

Yeah, if she puts in five,

-then that will be a big, big, big mistake.

-Yeah.

It's day three, and back at Sudeley Castle,

the designers' selections have arrived.

Their next major challenge is getting them in the ground.

They're really heavy.

I have to drag them across the floor

cos they're just...monsters.

But they're going in!

Steph may have reduced her prunus trees from five to three,

but she still has hours of digging ahead.

It's going to be another day of back-breaking work.

I need a metal pole.

Has anyone got a...

Or an electric spade.

They have nine hours today and three tomorrow

to complete their gardens before judging.

At this stage everyone goes, "Planting."

And the mood changes of everybody into, "OK, now this is serious."

Cos this is the finish side.

And how it really looks.

Because the structures are one thing,

but if the planting's not right, forget it.

Rob is having to remove one his chequerboard slabs

to make way for his topiary.

Instead of it going in the space he'd left at the front,

it's now going at the very back.

He's spent 30 minutes digging a hole for it.

And she's in!

Um, she'll look... You know, a couple of cypress

at the back and a few planting round at the bottom,

we'll do our best to smarten her up, but thank God it's not Chelsea.

Gillian is also resigned to her topiary trauma.

I still think it's quite brutally big.

Um, if I've got time, I'll try and tidy it up,

but I'm not going to panic about it

because I don't think I can ever make it look pretty.

So... It's about time and how much time you've got.

I don't want to spend a disproportionate amount of time

on that when this is, in my opinion, more important.

As at Chelsea, show gardens must display excellent horticulture,

which means the garden must function as it continues to grow.

Ultimate plant size must be wisely considered in their schemes.

Ooh! Nearly.

Formal gardens are all about precision and strong geometry.

They are competing for the chance

to make a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The bar is set really high

and even the smallest mistake may mean that they're going home.

Paul has placed nearly half his box.

He's chosen a restricted palette of just five plants.

My biggest concern about the garden is everything's quite low

and so I'm getting a bit nervous that perhaps I should have

put some more...some higher planting in. It's very...

It's very low.

But it's not structure that's concerning Joe,

it's the finish of Paul's water feature.

So you've got the box, OK.

-Around here, yeah?

-Yes, yes.

-But I'm standing over here...

Yeah.

What am I going to see?

-You'll see the outer rim.

-I just don't like seeing plastic edges...

-Right.

-..of water.

-Yes.

-So think about that, OK?

So think about how you're going to hide it.

-Yeah.

-Might be a plant, might be something more malleable, but it...

Potentially.

-I'll leave you with that thought.

-Yes.

-OK.

-Thank you.

In his Eastern-themed garden, Sean is trying to stay Zen.

He practises yoga,

but will it be enough to combat the stress?

So, are you feeling confident?

I never feel confident.

I've always got this little known feeling inside.

I'm rehearsing them saying,

"And the person not going to Chelsea is..."

So that's what's... Even though I'm loving this,

that's what's going on in my mind.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-That's a bit scary.

-Yeah.

"The person going to Chelsea is...

"The person going to Chelsea is...

"Joe Swift." Oh, I like that. That sounds good. Yeah.

So, have you got yoga in your brief this time?

I've got yoga and praying.

-IMITATES GEORDIE ACCENT:

-Praying for gold.

-Praying for gold.

-That's my terrible Geordie accent.

And breathe in.

Close the lotus flower.

Oh, I feel better already.

Over in Steph's garden, things aren't quite so relaxed.

There's just so much to do

and I keep looking round and everybody's got so much more in

than me, which is really worrying

because I really, really want to get this one perfect.

Gillian has spent the morning laying out her hebes and box balls

but she's barely started planting.

I think I'm really slow.

Er, but I just have to get on with it.

I'm trying to do it correctly and precisely,

so I've got to take my time.

If I rush it, I'm going to ruin all the lines that I want to do,

so I've just got to be patient...

..which is not my forte.

So it's quite a challenge, really.

Nice benches.

-They're quite nice, aren't they?

-Very on-theme. Where are they going?

They're going outside the garden.

-Eh?

-They're going outside the garden.

-They're going here?

Yeah.

At Chelsea, you can't start putting street furniture in

so that the public can come and sit down outside the garden

and look at your garden.

-I know.

-You have your plot, four metres by four metres.

-I know.

What, you want to just leave them there?

Not quite like that, but, yeah, I'm going to do some, you know,

borrowed landscape stuff, I thought.

I know it won't work but I've got no choice.

Not that it won't work, you'll get marked down on that.

-Can't you put them in the garden somewhere?

-I don't...

No, they won't go in the garden.

Not without a dramatic change to the planting.

-I know!

-Why didn't you tell me a bit earlier?

Then we could have worked out a way.

It would have been great to have your bench...

-Sitting there, I know.

-..and one on the other side.

Then the judges could come and sit down.

Now all they'll do is they'll walk in...

-I know.

-..and they'll walk out again, just like I am now.

You've got to think about that one.

Thank you.

Gillian is no stranger to last-minute manoeuvres.

She was one of the first women to pass out of Sandhurst.

After serving four years as an Army officer,

she joined the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

I've probably had a slightly unusual life.

I was fortunate enough to work in Afghanistan,

in Jamaica, Turkey and the Balkans as well.

Following 27 years' service, last year Gillian decided

to open a new chapter in her life.

She's taking a garden design course and wants to make it her new career.

Gardens can make me feel very excited, very contemplative.

It can me feel very euphoric.

Sometimes, when I'm standing in the stream with my waders

at the bottom, clearing out my stream,

I just think I'm in the best place on earth.

I find that gardening is a real antidote to a stressful life.

But for me, they bring a whole variety of things,

but mostly joy, happiness and contentment.

While everyone else grabs a break,

Gillian is back on the front line fighting her way to Chelsea.

She's taken Joe's advice

and is digging out her edging ready for her benches.

If I don't do this, there's no way I'll finish.

So I work on the basis I've got a waterproof skin, so that's OK.

I'm only getting wet.

Erm, I'm going to do the changes that Joe sort of suggested.

He didn't say I had to do it, it's at my choice completely.

But now I've started, I'll have to finish.

If it works...

..it'll be good. And if it doesn't, well, I'll go out trying,

that's all I can say.

Some of these aren't very neat,

but I can't think of any other way of doing it at the moment.

While Gillian tries to catch up, Rob is halfway through his planting.

-Rob, you seem to getting on rather well.

-Hello. Yes.

Erm, I've got a lot of plants just spaced out,

-I've still got a lot to put in.

-Now, have you got enough plants?

Are you happy with your plants?

Because on the cottage garden test,

-you actually overstuffed it, we thought.

-Absolutely.

I have got gravel to play with this week,

so I had a little tip from Sean's garden last week and saw how

he'd used gravel to mulch around it and give some space to the plants.

So I've taken that on board, I've left a bit of space between.

Once the gravel's down, it'll fill those bare spaces.

There's enough plants to still give it that impact.

It's a difficult skill planting properly in a show garden, isn't it?

It is, but he's learning and he's looking at everybody else and what

they're doing and picking things up, which is fabulous.

-Just what we need.

-Thank you.

-Well done, Rob.

All the designers will need to show improvement in their skills

and knowledge if they're to win a garden on Main Avenue, Chelsea.

So, how's it going, Steph?

Um, it's going OK but I've still got a lot of planting to do and the lawn.

-You've still got tomorrow...

-Yeah.

-..till midday.

But I know we're always tight on time.

I know you're tight on time.

Your planting, how do you feel your planting's going?

I love my planting. It's completely different to everybody else's.

Everybody else has done very formal,

but I'm kind of taking the contemporary formal.

-I've got a couple of concerns about your planting.

-OK.

-One is that these phormiums get big, as you know.

-Mm-hm.

And these pittosporums, some of them are big

and you've got some small ones.

You've got some small ones over there,

how big are they going to get?

Or will they get this big at least, if not bigger? They're getting...

These pittosporums get three, four metres tall,

they get about a metre and a half wide,

and you're using them like bedding plants.

-OK.

-You're using them just for ornament...

-Yeah.

-..to decorate with.

You know, the judges are going to say,

"Right, you've got pittosporums in there,

"you've got phormiums in there, you've got trees in there."

You've got to let that breathe a bit more and think about what plants

-you're putting in and how they're going to grow.

-OK.

Horticulturally, it's not sound.

So, can take that one out, um, and that one out.

-One of them, either the phormium...

-Yeah.

-..or the pittosporum.

-OK.

OK? Just pare it back to simple formality, yeah,

-and good horticulture.

-OK.

I think I have my moments of, "Oh, my God!"

I'm sure I'll have a few more,

but when I start seeing things get done, I'm a lot happier.

When I have to change things and I'm thinking,

"Oh, my God, I'm behind, I'm behind," that panics me.

It's been another draining day.

Throughout, they've been under the watchful eye of the judges.

Seen a lot of plants go in today.

They've only got a few hours left tomorrow,

but they're looking like proper gardens now, aren't they?

Yeah. It's always amazing what happens on day three.

Suddenly, things that were just muddy patches,

you put some plants in it and they do begin to look like proper gardens.

Let's start with Rob.

His planting has completely transformed his garden.

It now does look like a formal garden, doesn't it?

It does. I know we had a conversation right at the beginning where you

were sort of going, "Urgh," at the whole thing

because of these little tiny, tiny little planting areas.

And they're still tiny, I'm still not happy about the scale of it,

but it is definitely sort of better than we thought it was going to be.

Yeah, there's something of the harlequin there,

I suppose, I'm still not quite sure.

Paul, how do you think it's coming on?

I think it's the most sophisticated of all of the gardens here.

The most sort of... It's simple, it's straightforward.

The problem with simple and straightforward is that

-every plant has to be perfect.

-Yeah.

I'm really worried about lots of the planting in Steph's garden.

I mean, it's almost like she's just using the plants

as paints, quite literally.

She's not quite thinking about the horticulture.

But on a positive note,

she has really knocked that garden out by herself today.

And she has made changes to the garden as well.

I'm not sure if she's there yet or if those changes are ongoing.

But, you know, tomorrow will tell for sure. It has to.

Sean's, what do you think?

I think there are elements of his garden that I really like.

I really think the way that he's kind of clouded his mountains

of boxes really rather beautiful.

There's some things that I'm not quite so happy with.

You've got gravel just going onto the turf around it

and just a simple, crisp edge to it

would be so in-keeping with his, you know, Eastern theme.

We haven't got it at the moment, have we?

He's skating very close to the edge of formal gardens.

Gillian's been going out hammer and tong.

She's just tired, she's grafting.

She's coming to the end of her tether.

She needs a good night's sleep and ready for the morning.

I am worried about finishing on time, of course,

but I'm not going to panic.

Even though I'm pleased with how the garden looks

and the way it's all come together,

there's this little niggle in the back of my mind just saying,

"And the person not going to Chelsea is...

"Sean." That's how I feel.

The competition's really fierce.

Everybody is amazingly talented, and I feel like I'm putting

my all into this garden, but the confidence isn't there.

I still... There is no way of knowing whether you're going to get through.

And the thought of not being able to do this again is horrible.

Really horrible.

Tomorrow, the designers will have just three hours to

perfect their gardens before judgment is delivered.

It's the final morning.

Like all Chelsea designers, they're working to a strict deadline.

OK, designers.

You've got just three hours left till the judges arrive.

These are formal gardens.

They've got to be precise, they've got to be crisp,

they've got to be perfect.

I think this is the hardest bit for me.

Unfortunately, I am a bit of a perfectionist.

Trying to get it to be exactly it is in my head

and it's not always possible.

Sean has made a late decision to include an African crocosmia

in his...Oriental landscape.

You think you have it all mapped out on paper

and you've thought about it for weeks.

And then, in the final three hours, you're making adjustments

that could be either stay or go.

Everyone is making finishing touches, except Gillian.

She's still planting.

For me, it's just a case of staying in, really. That's all that matters.

Winning gold or not isn't the issue this week, it's just to stay in.

Oh, God.

-That is a killer.

-Yeah.

Absolute killer.

-Paul, can I have a quick word?

-Yeah, sure.

Are you worried about your ponytail grasses going a bit limp?

I haven't gone through yet to fluff.

That's probably one of the last jobs I'm going to do.

-Fluff them up a bit?

-Yeah,

fluff them up a bit and hope that they dry out.

-I am worried if it remains really wet.

-Or if it rains again.

Yeah, exactly.

Or it rains when the judges are here.

Yeah, basically, if there's water, yeah, it will look like this.

-But at Chelsea, you do see people with hairdryers on plants.

-Ha!

Yeah, you see them on the irises and their peonies

-and their grasses, drying them out.

-Really?

-Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Actually making it look perfect for the moment.

-Have you got one with you?

-A hairdryer?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, right(!)

PAUL LAUGHS

Steph seems to be over yesterday's setback.

She's rearranged some of her plants

and is now concentrating on the finer details.

I want to do a lot more perfecting.

Like for example, my edging.

I should've painted it slightly lower.

So I might have to do a few botch jobs.

SHE LAUGHS

-Right...

-Oh.

-Oh, no, don't say finished.

No, not finished. One hour to go, though.

You've got one hour.

The judges expect impeccable presentation throughout -

lustrous leaves and flawless flowers.

There are always dead bits.

No matter what you do, there are always dead bits.

I just can't...

I've gone round this about 50 times and every time I come back,

there's another dead bit to take out.

Judging day and wind - not a good mix.

Five minutes.

Five final minutes.

These final touches could make the difference between being

a step closer to building a Chelsea garden or leaving the competition.

OK, that's it, designers, time is up.

Tools down.

Leave your formal garden to the judges.

-Well done.

-Well done, too.

-Good luck, everyone.

They've done all they can.

Now it is time for judging.

I am finished. I feel, at the moment,

absolutely exhausted, to be quite honest with you.

It's...it's really hard work doing this, actually.

I am happy with my design, but the standard is really high,

so I don't know whether I'm...

that confident I'll stay.

But I'm hoping I might just edge in there.

From a personal perspective of what I have managed to do,

I am really pleased. But mine is quite green.

I did that purposefully, but now seeing other people putting in,

you know, these little hints of colour, I'm thinking...

"Are they just going to think mine is boring?"

Rob has created an outdoor theatre garden with checkerboard

paving representing the stage.

His pergola seat is framed by privet standards with

a backdrop of cypress trees.

Heuchera Fire Chief represents the curtains.

And box balls symbolise the audience's heads.

The judges hated his paving as it was going down,

but will his planting win them round?

So, Rob's outdoor theatre. I think it is lovely and formal.

The paving slabs, personally,

not my favourite kind of style of laying paving, but it works.

And I really like the way he's spaced it.

He's kind of relaxed a little bit since last time

where he stuffed everything in.

-So he is progressing.

-It does fit the brief, but it doesn't...

It is a very traditional sense of a formal garden.

It has got the... I mean, it is just squares...and that.

So I'm concerned that it's not got that extra thing,

that everybody else has gone a bit more creative with the theme.

If you are designing a garden with a central seating area,

it has to be accessible.

The only way to get to this garden is actually to jump...

out and then pick your way through the planting.

There needs to be a way in to show you how to get here.

Yeah, I am not jumping around like that. I'd ruin my dress.

And the whole garden is cut off at this point.

It's as if it doesn't really exist. That whole corner doesn't exist.

He's hidden his topiary in there cos he doesn't like it.

-And it doesn't really sort of join together at all.

-No.

He's lost an awful lot of space with that.

And I think that has really kind of

undermined the whole design, to be honest.

Your topiary is still sort of shoved around the back.

Yeah, exactly. I just didn't want it to stick out like a sore thumb.

Every time they were looking at something else,

they'd be drawn to this ugly monster in the middle of the garden.

I mean, horticulturally, I think he's done rather well.

All the plants are kind of in keeping.

They are growing exactly where they would grow.

Nothing is out of scale. I think he has done a good job.

The title of this garden is the actual theatre. And where are we?

It is a very theatrical thing, isn't it? I love it.

The whole thing works - the pom-poms, everything.

Bring on the lights, bring on the dancing girls,

let's see what happens.

Despite her concerns, Steph managed to finish her garden on time.

She wanted to push her formal brief giving it a modern twist

from the layout through to the planting.

She has chosen a subtle colour palette which includes phormiums,

centranthus,

Lophomyrtus Magic Dragon

and pittosporum.

Steph was the judges' favourite when it came to her topiary shaping.

But will it be enough to secure a place in the next round?

I think it has got some really lovely points in it.

I love the colours, linking through to some trees,

through to the phormiums.

Obviously, you've got this very strong line with the path

leading to this area here of seating.

-But it feels very informal to me.

-I think it is.

I think that is what Steph's strength is, is informal planting,

and that is what she is sort of trying to do here.

-I love it.

-Do you?

-I do, actually, yeah.

-Well, great.

I love the fact that I have done something completely

different from...from last time.

Shall we have a sit? OK.

-WOOD SNAPS

-Whoa!

That's not great, is it?

-That wasn't a good start, was it?

-Not fantastic construction.

OK, positive things. She won the topiary really quite convincingly.

And that piece of topiary sitting there is actually rather wonderful.

No, I agree with you.

I mean, she was really competent with that,

and CONFIDENT, wasn't she?

Yeah. But the horticulture is really quite ropey in places.

There are some very sort of basic mistakes.

There are plants in here that we know - and she should know -

will outgrow their places very, very fast.

You've got the phormiums which will get huge,

they'll completely overtake that bed.

We've got the little centranthus just poking through.

It's just a little stretched, isn't it, that combination?

So, what do you think they are picking up on now?

I'm not sure.

I pared it back a lot cos sometimes I have a lot of ideas and...

I don't know.

I am a bit worried about this one.

So you've got a music stand there

and a little sort of music book here.

So she has taken the story of the pianoforte, which is

the title of her garden, the whole way through.

Yeah, it is just almost like the musician has just

nipped off to find another piece of music, isn't it? It's true.

It is very charming.

It is a very charming garden, but it still comes back -

is it a formal charming garden or just a charming garden?

I don't want formal to be boring and just box, so for me,

I wanted it to be more contemporary.

And I don't know whether that's in my favour.

Gillian's priority was to fulfil the formal brief,

so she has kept it traditional with a classic courtyard garden.

Her planting is predominantly evergreen.

Hosta Patriot.

Matteuccia.

Fatsia japonica.

Nepeta provides a splash of colour.

Gillian didn't want to take any risks this week,

but has she played it too safe?

Hello.

Well, there is no doubt we are in a very formal garden indeed.

We are. She has absolutely, definitely hit that brief spot on.

But when you are actually sitting in here,

does the design work as a sort of garden?

And I worry about, if you sit there...

-And I am over here...

-Yeah.

-You sort of...

It is not a sociable garden, is it?

I suppose it doesn't have to be, actually, on the plus side.

You could be wanting to be here very private.

This is her topiary from the challenge.

She had a problem - she wasn't quite sure what shape she was looking for

when she started.

-And, you know, it is actually fine.

-I agree with you.

It is perfectly fine.

What I am not happy with is the nepeta here, shoved in the bottom.

It's just... It's to add a little bit of colour.

But I wish she'd have put that colour somewhere in the beds,

-actually.

-Yeah. There is a lot of horticulture

-sort of basic errors in here.

-Yes.

We've got roses right at the front.

-Rosa rugosa, which is going to get...

-OK.

Just think yourself one year from now,

will you be able to walk along this path?

No, because that rose there will be right up here and out here

and we will be getting prickles all over our front.

You wouldn't be able to see any of that. It wouldn't be there.

It'd be choked out completely.

So, what do you think the judges are thinking right now?

I'm aware there are open areas of soil. And I knew that.

This is what I haven't really got - how much it you can plant together.

Getting the spacing right. We'll work on that.

-That is the hard part.

-If you get through this.

-Oh, I know.

If you get through, we can work on that.

Theatre, do you think it is a theatrical space?

No, I mean, it isn't. You walk in here...

This is the problem with having a very, very simple pattern,

very simple formality. It means that it lacks a certain...

It lacks oomph, it lacks excitement in the whole thing.

I think that it goes back to what Gillian said right at the beginning.

She said, "In this garden, I do not want to take too many risks."

And it shows.

I think I have played the right card this week

by being very traditionally formal. I think I risked it last time.

I think they wanted to see something different from me,

from their criticism, so I tried to listen to that.

And it really remains to be seen

whether I've actually delivered any of it.

Sean has designed an oriental garden.

He wanted to create an atmosphere of calm.

The focus is his Eastern landscape -

a verdant veil of evergreen shrubs and grasses.

It includes Euphorbia martinii

and hakonechloa.

He has added a splash of colour

with Crocosmia Emberglow.

From day one, the judges were worried that the clash of cultural

influences in Sean's design would undermine its formality.

His idea is that you sit here

and you look at the rolling mountains of the Orient.

You've got some lovely details, haven't you?

I mean, look at that gorgeous box there.

-The mountains that he was trying to kind of echo.

-But you can't see it.

You can see it.

You sit here and we are supposed to be looking at the mountains,

but then he has planted this crocosmia in front of it.

And the other main problem is that there are too many plants

squeezed into too small a space.

I can understand why he has included things.

I mean, the hakonechloa, the grass there, it feels very oriental.

But we don't need it. You don't need it.

It would be lovely to have a bit more space to breathe, wouldn't it?

There's a lot of themes running through your garden, aren't there?

-Do feel there are perhaps one too many, maybe?

-Yeah.

I am just kind of bombarded with all this culture and things

and I think, "Where can I fit that into a garden?"

-I get a storm and I get hooked on it.

-I know. Especially with a garden

-like this, it is about refining it.

-Yes.

And no edge.

I was dying for there to be a crisp edge around this space,

just to hold you within it.

And that hasn't appeared either, has it?

Is this a formal garden? Has he fulfilled his brief?

Well, I think there are certain elements of the garden which

feel very formal. You've got the strong lines here,

you've got the geometry of the space,

but it feels a bit like it doesn't kind of completely come together.

We were slightly confused about whether he knew exactly what

he was looking for with this sort of Sino-Japanese, Chinese-y thing

going on, wasn't it?

If the judges said that I hadn't fulfilled the brief

and I was going home, I would be gutted, yeah.

I have still got a lot going on in here that I want...

You haven't seen the best of me yet, that's how I feel.

Paul hopes the judges will appreciate

the simplicity of his design.

His is the only garden to include a water feature,

and he selected a restricted palette of just five plants.

Hakonechloa.

Stipa.

Verbena bonariensis.

Echinacea.

And box.

Paul was aiming for elegance through simplicity.

But is it a little too simple?

So, Paul's Yin and Yang garden.

The design is extraordinarily strong.

Look at this perfect symmetry as far as the layout is concerned.

It sort of covers everything.

If you took this garden, went along that line, folded it

in on itself, that piece of topiary would pop straight into that pond.

Yeah. It's very clever.

And the narrative of it as well, the sense of theatre,

-the story behind it is sublime.

-The lovers...

-You're supposed to be there.

-Yeah.

-I'm down here.

-Yeah.

And we're alone and we're contemplating the garden.

-And then...

-We walk together, and there we are.

We come together, and there we go.

Meeting as the garden meets, on its axis again. I love that.

It's a nice bit of theatre.

Are you really nervous about this or are you feeling quite confident

at the moment or what?

I'm feeling quietly confident.

I mean, it is a nice garden.

Coming onto the planting...

It is a little bit lumpy around the edges,

is basically what the problem is.

We have got this gorgeous, crisp box here.

-Yet the box here...

-It's a bit shabby, isn't it?

Yeah, and you can see there's some very obvious cuts.

There's even some bits and pieces of, you know...

-Yeah, that's not so good.

-But I do think there's some clever tricks.

I mean, I love this kind of very evocative,

feminine grass just wafting around.

It really kinds of softens up the formality of the whole design,

-doesn't it?

-However, the other thing about it,

because it is a show garden -

details, darling, details - and there are a couple of little,

tiny construction details that I'm not happy with.

This is a lovely granite-set edge, but some pointing.

If you try and point with gravel, which is basically pushing

the gravel into the joints, it will never ever quite work.

The judges now need to decide who should be given the gold

and who should be sent home.

It is very tense at the moment, the atmosphere.

Amongst all of us, I think that...I think

we've all worked very hard.

Nobody wants to go home, obviously.

I am not sure whether I'll stay or not.

I think everybody is feeling the pressure

and feeling that, at the moment,

it's going to be a hard call this week.

It is torture just, you know,

all of this kind of waiting for the judges to make their decision.

The prize of building a Chelsea garden on Main Avenue

is at stake.

They have been judged on how well they have fulfilled the brief...

..horticultural knowledge...

..the theatre they have created...

..and their designs.

It has been a difficult week.

We have had a bit of rain.

A lot of wind.

And even a bit of sunshine too.

But you created some wonderful gardens,

and I am proud of all of you.

The judges' gold this time

goes to the garden that they thought

had met the brief,

had a wonderful sense of theatre

and some really lovely planting, too.

The judges' gold goes to...

Paul.

THEY CLAP

Paul delivered on his formal brief,

creating a garden with symmetry and crisp lines.

The judges loved the romantic story and its deep sense of theatre.

They were also impressed with his horticultural knowledge.

I was really nervous, actually, about going.

And I was thinking I was swaying more on that side than getting gold.

Gold! Love it.

But as you all know, one of you will be going home today.

And the judges thought...

..that the two weakest gardens here...

..were Steph's...

..and Gillian's.

The person that will not be going to Chelsea...

..is Steph.

Thank you.

-Well done.

-Well done.

Steph's garden didn't fulfil the formal brief.

It lacked symmetry and geometry.

There were also major horticultural issues.

In a few months' time, some of the plants would grow too big

and ruin the scheme.

I am disappointed,

but I think it is because I didn't meet the brief of formal.

I suppose I wanted a contemporary feel.

And I am going to stick to my guns and stay with that.

It is not going to stop me from getting to Chelsea so...

I have got years ahead of me yet, so I will never stop.

Next time, the competition heats up as the designers

take on conceptual gardens.

I was going to set the garden on fire.

I am very excited about it, they've gone mad!

One way or another, I have got to put one of them out of the competition.

And one more Chelsea dream comes to an end.

The person who is not going to go to Chelsea, I'm very sad to say...