Outdoor Oasis: 5 Popular Trends from the Chelsea Flower Show
From plant colours to species selection, here's what’s set to be trending in gardens this year
Victoria Harrison
31 May 2018
Editor, Houzz UK and Ireland
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always a rich hunting ground for garden ideas and inspiration, and this year was no exception. The show was packed with tips, tricks and beautiful plant combinations for all kinds of gardens, big and small. Here are 5 tips to take away from this year’s event.
1. Sunshine yellow tones
Yellow and orange might have rather fallen out of fashion in recent years, but if this year’s show was anything to go by, they’re making a bright return to our gardens. In the LG Eco-City Garden, there was a riot of these warm, sunshine shades and they made for an eye-catching display.
How to get the look: Choose tones from the yellow to orange colour range and plant en masse for a strong look. Or, for a softer effect, try drifts of yellow flowers as a recurring motif winding its way through a border.
Yellow and orange might have rather fallen out of fashion in recent years, but if this year’s show was anything to go by, they’re making a bright return to our gardens. In the LG Eco-City Garden, there was a riot of these warm, sunshine shades and they made for an eye-catching display.
How to get the look: Choose tones from the yellow to orange colour range and plant en masse for a strong look. Or, for a softer effect, try drifts of yellow flowers as a recurring motif winding its way through a border.
2. Wild planting
Two of the gardens in particular at Chelsea this year – the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden and the Tom Raffield installation – championed wild and naturalistic planting, with nettles, long grass and even a sprinkling of buttercups making the gardens look as if they’d been there forever.
How to get the look: A total contrast to rigid, formal designs, these gardens favour soft drifts of naturalistic-style planting that evoke a relaxed, country feel, so plant in soft arcs rather than straight lines.
Coincidentally, this type of planting, where some nettles, wildflowers and long grasses are allowed to remain, is also inherently wildlife-friendly, so allow some areas of grass to grow long nearby and let nature take its course.
Browse country-style gardens for inspiration
Two of the gardens in particular at Chelsea this year – the Welcome to Yorkshire Garden and the Tom Raffield installation – championed wild and naturalistic planting, with nettles, long grass and even a sprinkling of buttercups making the gardens look as if they’d been there forever.
How to get the look: A total contrast to rigid, formal designs, these gardens favour soft drifts of naturalistic-style planting that evoke a relaxed, country feel, so plant in soft arcs rather than straight lines.
Coincidentally, this type of planting, where some nettles, wildflowers and long grasses are allowed to remain, is also inherently wildlife-friendly, so allow some areas of grass to grow long nearby and let nature take its course.
Browse country-style gardens for inspiration
3. Designing for wellbeing
The RHS Feel Good Garden, designed by Matt Keightley, was a real focus at the show this year. Designed to highlight how gardens can help improve mental and physical health, the space had wide walkways that cut through generous banks of planting, and tiered bench seating creating a calm space in which to sit and relax.
The entire garden was designed to “put the garden user at complete ease” and it was a simple and uncluttered space.
How to get the look: To design a garden as a place for contemplation and relaxation, pay close attention to your walkways and seating areas, as these will become key. Think of the garden as a series of views and vistas and tuck in small seating nooks and areas to rest as you travel around the space.
The RHS Feel Good Garden, designed by Matt Keightley, was a real focus at the show this year. Designed to highlight how gardens can help improve mental and physical health, the space had wide walkways that cut through generous banks of planting, and tiered bench seating creating a calm space in which to sit and relax.
The entire garden was designed to “put the garden user at complete ease” and it was a simple and uncluttered space.
How to get the look: To design a garden as a place for contemplation and relaxation, pay close attention to your walkways and seating areas, as these will become key. Think of the garden as a series of views and vistas and tuck in small seating nooks and areas to rest as you travel around the space.
4. Houseplants
While the focus was, naturally, on outdoor spaces, there was also an indoor plant installation, designed by Ikea for the second year running, showing how indoor plants can improve living and working spaces.
With a focus on the health benefits of indoor plants as well as the aesthetic appeal of indoor foliage, the stand was a leafy oasis, with hanging pots and larger, floor-standing plants sharing the space with smaller desk plants and rows of decorative succulents.
How to get the look: Focus on greening up the areas in which you spend the most time, such as a desk or near a seating area. Choose plants that complement your interior style, be that modern, traditional or country, and invest in a beautiful pot or hanging planter to make a feature out of your greenery.
Our 10 Hottest Indoor Plants
While the focus was, naturally, on outdoor spaces, there was also an indoor plant installation, designed by Ikea for the second year running, showing how indoor plants can improve living and working spaces.
With a focus on the health benefits of indoor plants as well as the aesthetic appeal of indoor foliage, the stand was a leafy oasis, with hanging pots and larger, floor-standing plants sharing the space with smaller desk plants and rows of decorative succulents.
How to get the look: Focus on greening up the areas in which you spend the most time, such as a desk or near a seating area. Choose plants that complement your interior style, be that modern, traditional or country, and invest in a beautiful pot or hanging planter to make a feature out of your greenery.
Our 10 Hottest Indoor Plants
5. Bee bricks
Wildlife-friendly planting was in evidence again at Chelsea, with the new addition this year of ‘bee bricks’. These slim bricks with small holes for solitary bees to hibernate in take eco-friendly garden design to the next level, allowing wildlife-friendly solutions to be an integral part of your house, conservatory or greenhouse (they can be used as masonry bricks in the structure of outside spaces).
How to get the look: Start with bee-friendly plants such as verbena, to provide nectar, and add these to your borders – or even plant in pots or window boxes – to help to attract and support insect life. Then position a bee hotel or shelter nearby.
Tell us
Which of these garden design ideas is your favourite, and why? Share your thoughts in the Comments section, and don’t forget to like, share or save this story and the photos. Join the conversation.
More
Contact a landscaper or landscape designer to help with your next garden project
Wildlife-friendly planting was in evidence again at Chelsea, with the new addition this year of ‘bee bricks’. These slim bricks with small holes for solitary bees to hibernate in take eco-friendly garden design to the next level, allowing wildlife-friendly solutions to be an integral part of your house, conservatory or greenhouse (they can be used as masonry bricks in the structure of outside spaces).
How to get the look: Start with bee-friendly plants such as verbena, to provide nectar, and add these to your borders – or even plant in pots or window boxes – to help to attract and support insect life. Then position a bee hotel or shelter nearby.
Tell us
Which of these garden design ideas is your favourite, and why? Share your thoughts in the Comments section, and don’t forget to like, share or save this story and the photos. Join the conversation.
More
Contact a landscaper or landscape designer to help with your next garden project
Related Stories
Working with Professionals
Pro Panel: How Far in Advance Should I Hire a Garden Designer?
From the key stages and likely schedules to the best times for planting, three UK garden designers share their top tips
Full Story
Most Popular
5 Steps to Finding the Right Landscape Designer for Your Home
If you dream of a green retreat but your reality is more backyard bungle, knowing how to choose a landscaper is key
Full Story
Gardens
8 Common Landscaping Challenges and How Experts Solved Them
These USA landscape pros tackled everything from steep slopes to poor drainage in homeowners’ projects – here's how
Full Story
Outdoors
7 Landscape Design Ideas to Replace Your Lawn
Consider a design that welcomes wildlife, requires less maintenance, encourages gathering and better suit your needs
Full Story
Outdoors
What a Landscape Architect Really Does
Is a landscape architect the best for your home's surrounds? Finding out what they're all about is the first step to take
Full Story
Quizzes
What’s Your Dream Garden Style?
Answer seven questions in our fun quiz to reveal your perfect style of garden
Full Story
Garden Design
Garden of the Week: A Smart, Sliding Cover Over a USA Plunge Pool
By Becky Harris
How an expert team, a clever composition and a sliding pool cover made the most of a modest-sized backyard in Texas, USA
Full Story
Gardening
8 Design Moves to Give a Flat, Bland Garden More Depth or Height
Sunken patios, stacked garden beds, berms and other features are a great way to add interest to level outdoor spaces
Full Story
Houzz Around The World
Spain Garden Tour: A Mediterranean Makeover With Colour & Texture
Once neglected, this naturalistic garden is now a series of outdoor rooms with idyllic spots to swim, dine and relax
Full Story
Gardens
Winning Gardens: Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show
Inspo alert! Don't miss the award-winning show gardens at Australia's biggest and best annual garden design fair
Full Story
How fabulous! It will look beautiful when you've finished Tiago. Very nice
Acers are beautiful, but they do need a shady spot sheltered from the wind. They hate hot sun too. The wind and the sun will shrivel up the leaves. They are a woodland plant. I found the larger leaved varieties suffer more than the strappy leaved varieties like the Acer Palmatum dicectum varieties. The Fatsia japonica is a good grower that seems happier in shade but will still grow in sun. Ferns are woodland plants that also need shade. If that bed is in the shade then you should be fine.
If you use lower plants at the front corner and build up in height towards the rear corner it gives a better run, watch Alan Titchmarsh Love Your Garden aired 24th July 2018. To make a real impact paint the fence - use a paint sprayer about £50 from screwfix and it will spay Ducksback (or alike) quite happily. Use a white fence paint for massive impact - in America white is standard, or use Grey if you don’t fancy such brilliance. Yes white or any pale colour can go dirty but if you spray it with Wet and Forget then the algie doesn’t grow and it stays perfect. Paint the wooden planters in a contrasting colour ie grey against a white fence, white against a grey fence etc this will change it from “fatally new” to “designer.” Don’t forget to paint the concrete posts with the same fence paint so they simply blend away to enhance the look. Once painted plant some training plants over the edges to soften the look. Good luck it will be worth it in the end.