8 take-home trends from RHS Tatton 2024

The sun finally shone this summer, just in time for the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park in Cheshire, where glorious show gardens and features basked in the sunshine. Here are the hottest design ideas from the show, favourite trends and floral inspiration to steal for your own growing space.

1 Bold blues and purple perfection

Blue flowers and purple planting grabbed your attention across the showground. Electric blue shades of Eryngium (sea hollies) and delphiniums stood out in many planting schemes, and rich purple tones mixed with both bright colours and softer pastel shades to create either hot or cool colour combinations.

Vivid blue and sunny yellow planting in My Name'5 Doddie Garden

Salvias and lavenders mingle with intense orange Crocosmia, Kniphofia and Digiplexis in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden

Purple accents of salvias, Agastache and Allium sphaerocephalon form a softer colour scheme in The Safe Space Garden

Big, bold purple-striped canna leaves in The Mid Cheshire Line Station Volunteers’ Garden

Dark purple brassica foliage draws the eye in The WOW Factor Garden

2 New life for dead wood

Not only does dead wood provide food and habitats for wildlife, it can be used to create beautiful, fun and functional features and is a great way to reuse waste garden material. Across the show there was a whole host of ideas on how to use dead wood in your garden, from log piles and stumperies, to rustic seating, in bug hotels and gabions, and as dead hedges and edging material.

A fallen tree becomes a bespoke bench in The RHS If a Tree Falls Garden

A log pile play tunnel in the RHS Garden Bridgewater show feature

Dead-wood logs as edging material in the Habitastic Creative Cube

A dead hedge in Entertaining Meets Nature acts as a boundary and home for wildlife

3 Walk on the wild side

Romantic and airy naturalistic schemes and wildflower planting continue to be a big trend in 2024. Incorporating wildflowers in borders and grassy areas is fantastic for attracting insects and increasing plant diversity, while bringing us closer to nature and evoking the calm, nostalgic feelings of the countryside. If you’re short on space to dedicate to wild planting, spike your borders with choice wildflowers, such as teasels and Ammi majus.

Wildflower turf in The Woodland Trust: 49 Garden captures the essence of the English countryside

Teasels add architectural interest to the Entertaining Meets Nature garden

Native British orchid cultivars dotted among wildflowers in The Orchid Garden

4 Celebrate traditional crafts

Handcrafting skills and traditional materials are celebrated in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden. Wooden furniture inspired by Edwin Lutyens and the timber-framed pavilion with its beautiful stained glass windows were hand-crafted using traditional methods and local materials.

Arts and crafts inspired pavilion and seating in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden

Coloured glass forms a water feature in the My Name'5 Doddie Garden

Screens bring a rainbow of colour to The Secret Garden: For us, By us

A York stone dry wall in The Woodland Trust: 49 Garden

5 Woven wonders 

Woven willow sculptures weaved their magic across the showground, demonstrating how versatile and fun this exquisite organic material can be. There are inspiring ideas on using willow to craft decorative gates and archways, plant supports, planting containers and sculptures big and small.

Curvaceous willow sculptures form focal points in This Garden Isn’t Finished Without You sponsored by The Methodist Church

A woven willow ‘front door’, planters and cat in Small Actions, Big Impact

Woven domes of willow and hazel in The Grant Horticulture Arts & Crafts Garden

6 Reuse and repurpose

The show had plenty of quirky ideas and inspiration on how to repurpose objects to use in your garden, whether it’s giving your furniture a new lease of life outside, salvaging building materials or even agricultural equipment. A striking feature path created from an old conveyor belt used for hay baling was a highlight of the Big Picture Garden, while two salvaged doors created a beautiful but space-saving shed cleverly integrated into the perimeter fence.

Space-saving tool shed built from two doors and a simple wooden frame

A bale conveyor belt forms a feature path in the Big Picture Garden

Reclaimed scaffold boards and radiator panels make a walkway, decking and funky raised planting beds in Glean

7 Statements of steel

With its corrosion resistance and strength, Corten steel continues to be an ever-popular material for sculptural, structural and water features. Its orange, rusty tones marry with warm planting schemes, while also offsetting pale flowers and green, verdant foliage.

In the Corten Garden, an eye-catching central arch acts as a support to grow plants up and also a place to hang a swing

Steel arches offer enclosed seating areas in The Safe Space Garden

A Corten steel rill flows into a pond with water lilies in The Better New Build

8 Get creative with climbers 

Simple yet striking and imaginative structures are used for growing climbing plants up, creating a beautiful aesthetic on a budget. Build yourself using timber or repurpose items from around the home.

Sweet peas scramble up bicycle chains in the Big Picture Garden

Star jasmine adorns wooden hexagons in the Nectar Nook