RHS Chelsea 2024 tips for your garden from a garden designer
Georgia Lindsay at her desk in her garden & landscape design studio in London
How to get the most out of Chelsea from a garden designer’s perspective: the judging and press day have happened, and we’ve reached the big week at the Chelsea Flower Show. By the time the gates open to the public, you should have everything in place to take advantage of the huge surge of interest in gardening RHS Chelsea generates.
Whether you are exhibiting, helping create one of the incredible show gardens, supplying the many garden designers, the focus turns from the hard physical graft to facing the public and all the external attention. Equally, if you’re just visiting RHS Chelsea for inspiration, we’ve got some great tips from a professional gardener designer to apply to your garden, or perhaps if you’re thinking of commissioning a designer, landscape gardener, landscape architect.
This is a guest blog by Georgia Lindsay. Georgia runs Georgia Lindsay Garden Design, a landscape and garden design studio that strives to create modern, imaginative spaces from city courtyards to country gardens. Georgia’s work includes urban roof terraces, family gardens, large country gardens and NHS therapy gardens.
Here are Georgia’s top tips to if you visit Chelsea, get inspired and want the inside track from a professional garden designer for your garden:
Absorb all the inspirations, ideas, causes & innovations
What to expect if you’re thinking of commissioning a garden design
Things to do before contacting a garden designer
Top tips for introducing Chelsea trends to your garden
What to include in your brief to your garden designer
Wildings is a website design agency in Devon. Based in Torquay in South Devon we design standout websites for small businesses like garden designers, interior designers, florists and architects (garden, interiors and lifestyle brands). In this series, we’re looking at how to market your small garden business or brand off the back of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show or the Spring rush: catch up on the previous article, ‘Pre-RHS Chelsea marketing checklist for garden brands’ or explore the rest of our series on how to market your garden brand at the Chelsea Garden Show →
Oak furniture & weathered decking in North London garden design by Georgia Lindsay
1. Absorb all the garden inspiration, ideas, causes & innovations
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is a joyous week at the end of May, a chance to see the very pinnacle of garden design and planting. It's packed full of inspirational ideas and planting combinations. It showcases innovative new materials and techniques and brings vital awareness to sustainability, biodiversity and shines a spotlight on key charities and social issues.
How to make the most of your visit to RHS Chelsea
Take a notebook and write down what inspires you or take photos on your phone
Pay attention to innovative materials or techniques that you could employ at home
Look at how designers are setting an example for promoting sustainability and biodiversity
Share important causes and issues with your friends, family and followers that are spotlighted
Roof terrace garden design by Georgia Lindsay with a magnificent Tree of Heaven and pendant light
2. Thinking of commissioning a garden design after RHS Chelsea?
RHS Chelsea show gardens take time - lots of time to produce! They are in the planning stage a year or two ahead of Show week. It's really important to remember exactly the same applies to designing a garden for a client. The best designs emerge when there is time to consider every detail, plan for supply issues and logistics, planting at the right time of year will all help to produce the best design possible. It's advisable to approach a designer at least a year in advance of the build to ensure there is time to consider every detail. You may then be in the running to have an award-winning garden to rival any RHS Chelsea show garden.
Things to bear in mind when commissioning a garden designer
Approach a garden designer with lots of time in hand - they get booked up quickly!
Allow time for the design process to get the best design for your house and location
Bear in mind that your plants need to go in the ground at the optimal time of year for best results
Roof terrace garden design by Georgia Lindsay in North London idea for al fresco dining
Geraniums and Agastache in a planting plan in a North London garden design by Georgia Lindsay
3. Before contacting a garden designer post-RHS Chelsea
A combination of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show approaching and the warmer weather means many people reach out for help with their outdoor spaces. Garden designers receive a surge of enquiries at this time. My advice would be to gather all the inspiration you have collected at RHS Chelsea and other flower shows, take photos of all the gorgeous plants you have spotted including photos of all the plant tags to remind you of the names. Then at the end of the summer when the Spring surge is over make contact with a designer. Plan the design during the winter months, build in February or March and plant in April. Your garden will then be ready to enjoy the following summer. Remember a garden isn't just for summer, it's for life so take time over it!
What to do before making an enquiry with a garden designer:
Remember that notebook above - make a shortlist or wishlist of plants and designs from the show plus any photos (to remind you!)
Wait until after RHS Chelsea and summer is over before contacting a garden designer
Anticipate working with your garden designer to plan things in the Autumn; start building late Winter; and plant in Spring
Trust your garden designer’s plan and enjoy your wonderful garden the following summer!
Outdoor kitchen area in a North London garden terrace with Mediterranean planting by Georgia Lindsay
4. Top tips for introducing RHS Chelsea trends to your garden
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show showcases bold and beautiful designs with impressive architectural statements. It displays unusual plants you love but have never heard of - how do you condense those huge ideas to use in your own garden?
It can be overwhelming trying to bring a little bit of RHS Chelsea home with you so take photos of all the ideas and plants which inspire you and make a collage of images. A common theme may emerge which could be as simple as vertical linear shapes, try condense these ideas to suit the proportions of your garden. The danger is to add small one-off items or an odd plant. Instead look for a pattern of colour which will suit your space. Many of the plants you see at Chelsea may not be suitable for your garden so try to find equivalents to suit your soil type and aspect.
Tips for applying RHS Chelsea trends & planting to your garden:
Organise your notebook inspirations into categories and themes
Avoid planting one-off plants in the buzz after RHS Chelsea
Choose the plants that are most suited to your garden
All images on this page courtesy of Georgia Lindsay Garden Design on Houzz
Outdoor lounge area of roof terrace garden in North London with dry-tolerant plants by Georgia Lindsay garden design
5. What to include in your brief to your garden designer
The Spring time is an extremely busy time for professionals in the landscaping industry. Here's what you can do to help in preparation to reaching out to a garden designer.
Gather photos of your garden (at different times of the year if possible). Draw a very rough sketch of the garden with basic measurements. Start a Pinterest or Houzz mood board of gardens which inspire you. Make a wish list of all the priorities you would like to include for example an outdoor kitchen coal or gas, are you looking for dining as well as lounge seating? Would you like the sound of water in your garden, do you need a garden room? When you have all the info you need, find the best designer for and you and you will have a head start in the process.
How to write a great brief for your garden designer
Be visual: sketches, photos and drawings are really helpful
List in priority order what you want to achieve
Get the rough dimensions of your garden area
Anything else I need to know about RHS Chelsea and tips for my garden design?
That’s the end of our series ‘How to market your garden brand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show’ and here is some helpful further reading:
From Dainty Dres Diaries: RHS Chelsea Flower Show – Guide To Getting Around
From Garden Ninja Garden Design: Beginners guide to Chelsea Flower Show: what to see & how to avoid the queues
From Gardens Illustrated: 10 essentials for visiting the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
From Dan Cooper Gardens: My Chelsea Flower Show Survival Guide
If you’d like to get more helpful tips from us or visual inspiration, follow @wildings.studio on Instagram; or read more of our garden designer-focussed blogs on website design below.
