My Chelsea Experience

 An Aussie plant addicts’ travels in the U.K.

By Tyler Howard (October 2022)

My name is Tyler Howard and I’m a 26-year-old horticulturist from Sydney. In 2019 I was the recipient of a BBM Global Footprints Scholarship, to take me to the UK and France and gain insight into how their horticultural industries work.

As much as I love Australian gardens, I have always been enamoured by the English garden and its floriferous, classic and natural charm.

For the first placement on my tour of duty, I was to work on one of the show gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Jumping into the deep end, there was an immediate air of adrenaline, as there’s only a couple of weeks for the build it all must go to plan (if not better). Joe Perkins, the designer I was volunteering for, was busy coordinating the landscaping crew as well as other tasks relating to the development of the garden, but still had time for many a good chat.

The garden was sponsored by Meta and was called The Meta Garden: Growing the Future. It drew inspiration from the relationship between fungi and plants, representing the ‘invisible network’ that keeps the worlds organisms connected – paralleling human interconnection and the relationship we share with natural spaces.

This show garden was on prime real estate on the northern corner of Main Avenue, a great viewpoint attracting much traffic. Upon arrival, the excavation to sink the centre of the garden nearly 2m deep had allowed space for the main timber structures, a steep embankment with a chestnut retaining wall to the back, and a gentle slope leading up to the main path from the main structure. No concrete here, unlike some other designs with nearly 10 tonnes used.

First task: sit a row of advanced field maples in the ground to form the rear hedge (the side hedge was holly and deciduous Viburnum). This would be part of the frame of the garden. Most of the trees used were bagged in burlap wrapped with coarse wire, allowing for direct planting in the real world (they will only be spending a week in this garden), something I had learned about but never seen in practice. The larger trees were in woven bags, the largest being a near 7T Douglas Fir.

The next stage was setting out the feature shrubs/small trees – Crataegus and deciduous Viburnum. Like any garden install, this involved choosing the best face to be viewed by the public and more importantly, removing any imperfections such as damaged foliage and branches.

Then the main bank was graded back and up towards the viewing path, or track way, while the rest of the plants began arriving. The plan was laid out so plant types would be grouped to their natural growing requirements, or close to. There was a creek installed, therefore marginal plants were on the lowest point of the bank whilst Mediterranean plants were to the top. Under the feature trees were perennials and up on the shaded bank there were ferns and other woodland plants, with smaller perennials/ferns/mosses in the retaining wall gaps itself.

Detailing was endless, and as the final stages came together days before and right to the minute of judging, we kept on trying to make it as perfect as can be, right down to scattering dead leaves.

Although the hours were long and it was hard to picture it finished, we were filled with satisfaction with the result. 4,000 plants, a few tonnes of timber and days of camaraderie later, The Meta Garden was awarded a gold medal. The resounding feeling of personal and group success sealed the friendships we all made, not to say we’d all drop each other if we didn’t!

The only down points from the judges regarded the density of planting beneath the trees, and the durability of plywood used, fine details that didn’t dissuade morale – after all it’s a real balancing act when it comes to planting density in a show garden!

During the period on the build and show week, I was able to meet many industry figures, designers and media personalities in the UK such as Monty Don, and the weeks spent with Joe and the team filled me with ambition and motivation to strive for my goals. Along with the networking, this experience enabled me to expand my planting palette and design brain tenfold. I gained critical insight into perfecting show gardens from Alyson, the head of the planting team, which was invaluable knowledge to bring home for my career, and I feel as if I was mentored by Joe who was nothing short of generous with his knowledge and experience, something I’m incredibly grateful for.

I really hope I can go back to work on a Chelsea Garden in the future; not only was it a career defining exercise, but it was also a masterclass in networking and personal development as a solo traveller.