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.
Purple foliage brought wow-factor to the Long Borders, from the big burgundy leaves of bananas, cannas and phormiums to the deep plum foliage of heucheras and hylotelephiums and dark chocolate dahlia leaves. Edibles flirted with the dark side too, with purple-leaved brassicas and the deep ruby red stems of swiss chard and beetroot.
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.
Tree branches layered between uprights form a dead hedge in Entertaining Meets Nature. Dead hedges are an increasingly popular way to create a boundary on a budget that also benefits wildlife. Dead-wood branches and stumps bring a sculptural quality to the garden and gabions filled with wood and rubble form a seating area and offer further sanctuary for garden creatures.
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.
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.
Stained glass panels and water features also took a moment to shine in the The Moongate Garden and My Name'5 Doddie Garden, while The Secret Garden: For us, By us offered a contemporary twist on the theme with its multi-coloured screen to create a vibrant sensory feature.
Traditional dry stone walls form a striking backdrop to gardens that evoke the idyllic British countryside, and also provide pockets for shade-loving plants. Adapt the idea for home gardens on a smaller scale and create a dry stone raised bed or small feature wall.
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.
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.
Reusing and recycling was also a focus of Glean, where old scaffold boards found new life as a raised path and decking, and salvaged radiator panels form the walls of raised beds for growing flowers and edibles. Building rubble is used as a growing medium for wildflowers, thus saving nutrient rich soil for growing food and reducing the need for landfill.
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.
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.