Hedges Direct were recently involved in the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, working with luxury furniture company, Chic Teak. You can read more about our collaboration with Chic Teak here but we didn’t want our visit to Tatton Park to be all work and no play, so we made sure we had chance to wander round and see what else was going on. Here’s the biggest themes and trends we spotted at the show:
– Topiary
It’s no surprise that topiary was a popular choice at Tatton Park, with topiary standards providing instant impact and structure to both show gardens and exhibitors – our own Box topiary spirals and balls even featured in the show, used to decorate the Chic Teak stand. Under-planting topiary was also a re-occurring theme; topiary planted in either large containers or along beds surrounded by bright border plants provided a burst of colour that complimented the varying heights and shapes of topiary.
– Bee friendly plants
Bee friendly borders popped up all around the show, highlighting the importance of choosing plants for pollinators in order to reduce the decline in bee numbers. These bee friendly plants not only have practical uses, supplying essential nectar and pollen to bees, but the range of colours, shapes and fragrances proves that the aesthetic value of these plants is in no way compromised.
– Wildlife gardens
It’s not only bees that were given the spotlight at Tatton Park; there were plenty of other wildlife species that featured in the show gardens and exhibitor stands. Creating a home for nature in your garden was a common theme with bug boxes, hedgehog habitats, and bird houses making an appearance in several of the gardens.
– Perennial grasses
Many of the show gardens included perennial grasses which gave the designs a natural, more relaxed look and added texture to the planting schemes. The Light Catcher Garden and A Quiet Corner (both awarded gold) were heavily punctuated with sections of perennial grasses.
– Instant hedging
Instant hedging seemed to be the go-to choice for many garden designers, using this fast and effective hedging unit as a way to create an attractive backdrop for their designs. Instant hedging was also used as a canvas for some of the exhibitor stands, including the Chic Teak stand which featured our Hornbeam instant hedging.
– Pleached and espalier trees
Although these tree training methods only made a small appearance at the show, the use of pleached trees and espalier trees demonstrates how these age-old training methods are still valued as significant horticultural skills.
– She Sheds and Man Caves
There were plenty of sheds dotted around the Tatton Park Flower Show but they definitely didn’t look like your average shed. The trend to use your garden shed for leisure as well as storage and gardening is definitely on the rise, with one mirrored shed even containing a disco ball.
– Roof gardens
More and more roof gardens are appearing as urban gardening continues to rise. The tall, outdoor table and chairs from Chic Teak are perfect for small spaces such as roof gardens and plenty of sheds and garages at the show, like the one displayed in the Spiralling out of Control garden, featured green roofs channelling the Greening Grey Britain campaign.
Let us know your top trends from the Show on our Facebook page or share your photos with us @hedgesdirect.
