Press releases

Up front design at world's largest flower show

March 6 2007

A recent Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) report uncovered the cold hard, concrete, facts about Britain’s urban front gardens and now garden designers at the world’s largest annual flower show have been inspired to offer ‘green’ solutions to the modern front garden.

A survey conducted by MORI for the RHS revealed that the need for car parking spaces is squeezing out plants and front lawns as paving takes over - but inspiration is at hand for visitors to this summer’s RHS-run Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (3-8 July). Designer Alistair Kirk Bayford will be creating ’23 Green Terrace’, a small garden illustrating an alternative to a paved front garden. The garden caters for a small car which can be parked on a reinforced grass area sheltered by a cantilevered green roof which maximises the biodiversity of the space. Rainwater can be harvested from the roof for use in the house and garden and is stored in a tank under the car. Bands of granite and thyme run alongside native hedging and a vertical ‘green’ wall planted with a mixture of geraniums, salvias and alliums.

‘Full Frontal’, a small garden from Hadlow College, will also prove that your front garden can provide car parking without becoming a hard surfaced desert. The garden surface is made up of a wire grid with below-ground planting to provide a damp, shady microclimate and allow water to seep into the ground. Above ground, the grid rises and provides climbing support for plants and shelter for birds. The planting scheme will be wildlife-friendly, drought-tolerant and durable to help withstand the urban setting.

Leigh Hunt, RHS Horticultural Advisor, commented, “It’s great to see designers taking up the ‘green vs paving’ challenge. Unlike soil, concrete cannot absorb rainwater and the excess run-off caused by paving can increase by as much as 50 percent, contributing to localised flooding and other environmental problems. These gardens at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show provide people with attractive, sustainable designs and real, practical solutions to the space problem in urban areas.”

Leigh and the rest of the RHS Advisory Team will be on-hand to answer visitors’ gardening questions every day of the show. A special RHS Garden Matters leaflet, Front Gardens, full of practical tips and ideas on planting and landscaping, can be downloaded from the RHS website.

For tickets to the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show (3-8 July), call the ticket hotline on 0870 906 3791 (public line) or 0870 906 3790 (RHS members). Tickets range from £12.50 to £29 with children aged 5-15 years £5 and under-5’s going free. For further show information and online booking visit www.rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt

Notes to Editors

For more information or images contact Kerry Law in the RHS Press Office on 020 7821 3044 or email kerrylaw@rhs.org.uk

‘Must see’ at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2007

Conceptual Gardens
Back after its debut in 2006, tomorrow’s big names in garden design will be creating innovative and challenging gardens with ‘wow’ factor in their first appearance at an RHS flower show.

Festival of Roses
This marquee holds Britain’s largest annual gathering of roses in full bloom from the UK’s best rose growers. Around a dozen new roses will be launched at the show and visitors can be some of the first to see the Rose of the Year 2008.

Water Gardens
A unique feature of the show, these tranquil water gardens reflect the show’s location beside the River Thames. The water garden exhibitors will also be selling aquatic plants.

Inspiring Spaces
These plots offer creative container planting solutions to problem areas in the garden such as an awkward corner or small front garden.

Daily Mail Pavilion
Be transported back to the 1950s English countryside! RHS Gold Medal winning designers such as Tim Sharples and Rosie Hardy will be creating show gardens around the theme of a Kentish smallholding.

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show tickets
3-4 July are reserved for RHS members and their guests, all welcome 5-8 July. Tickets range from £13-£30 with children aged 5-15 £5 (except Tues 3) and under 5s free throughout the show. Full-day or afternoon only tickets are available. Car-parking available, or take the greener option and arrive by train, bus or ferry. Visit www.rhs.org.uk/hamptoncourt for full transport options and further visitor details.

www.rhs.org.uk/pressoffice

The RHS is the UK’s leading gardening charity dedicated to advancing horticulture and promoting good gardening. RHS work includes providing expert advice and information, advancing horticulture, training the next generation of gardeners, helping school children learn about plants, and conducting research into plants, pests and environmental issues affecting gardeners.

An interest in gardening is all you need to enjoy being a member of the RHS. For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk or call 0845 130 4646.

Founded in 1804, the Royal Horticultural Society is Britain's largest gardening charity and is committed to being the leading organisation demonstrating excellence in horticulture and promoting gardening. Renowned for its outstanding gardens and inspirational flower shows, the RHS is a key source of advice and information for all gardeners. It encourages gardening through its publications, trials, lectures, education programmes and scientific research and is home to the Lindley Library, which contains the most comprehensive collection of horticultural books in the world.

Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society offers many exclusive benefits including a monthly copy of The Garden magazine; free entrance to RHS Gardens Wisley in Surrey, Rosemoor in Devon, Hyde Hall in Essex and Harlow Carr in North Yorkshire; free access to a further 88 beautiful gardens across Britain and 20 gardens in Belgium and France; access to seeds collected at RHS gardens; free gardening advice and privileged tickets to 18 RHS flower shows, including the Chelsea Flower Show, the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park.

For further enquiries about membership of the RHS contact: Membership Department, Royal Horticultural Society, PO Box 313, London SW1P 2PE; 0845 130 4646 Monday - Friday 9.30am - 5pm or via the RHS website

For more information e-mail the Press Office or visit the online Press Office