RHS Chelsea Flower Show has returned for 2019 with an array of beautiful gardens – including one created by the Duchess of Cambridge in a bid to inspire youngsters to enjoy the great outdoors. While we may not have the skills or means to recreate the colourful and creative gardens, we can at least take inspiration from the designs on show. Take a look through the gallery for ideas…
RHS Back to Nature garden
Created by the Duchess of Cambridge in collaboration with award-winning landscape architects Andrée Davis and Adam White, the RHS Back to Nature garden provides endless fun for children and adults alike. Even if you can't recreate every element from the garden, hanging a swing from a tree and incorporating interactive activities into your outdoor space can make a big difference.
The Morgan Stanley garden
Who wouldn't want to spend time in this gorgeous garden, which is filled with lush plants, herbaceous borders and its very own relaxation pods? Designed and built by Chris Beardshaw, the dreamy garden will inspire gardeners to trade their lawns for an array of topiary domes and plants.
The Savills and David Harber Garden
Garden designer Andrew Duff and sculptor David Harber are seen here in the Savills and David Harber Garden, which celebrates the environmental benefit and beauty of trees, plants and gardens in urban spaces, an ethos you can follow even in the smallest of city gardens. Look here for more inspiration.
Dubai Majlis garden
Inspired by the sculptural beauty found in arid landscapes, the Dubai Majlis garden – designed by Thomas Hoblyn and built by Landform Consultants Ltd – is a calming and colourful space, with Mediterranean-style planting and an inviting seating area.
Silent Pool Gin garden
The Silent Pool Gin garden was designed by Neale Richards to relieve stress through scent and sustainability, and features five of the 24 botanicals used in the gin – including angelica, iris and rose. Not only do the tones of blues, whites and green create a relaxing ambience, but you could grow the botanicals to add into your own tipple.
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Come What May installation
Artist Charlotte Smithson's Come What May installation may well inspire people to bring wildflowers both inside and outside their homes, with a unique display suspended in glass test tubes. Could this become the new alternative to hanging macramé planters?
The Blue Forest tree house
This fun tree house garden design has a cool swing seat hanging under the terrace, with a mechanism to deliver a basket of champagne down to the chair. What more could you want?! Created in collaboration with Chewton Glen Hotel and Spa, the pre-fabricated tree house is designed to reconnect with their inner child – and we think it succeeds.
Harmonious Garden of Life garden
This environmentally sustainable garden designed by Laurelie de la Salle may look like a simple and peaceful place to relax, but there is much more to it than that. The garden encourages positive interactions between the four kingdoms (minerals, vegetables, animals and humans), and the four elements (air, water, earth and fire) to create balance in the environment. Clever additions include the pergola with a swing, which pumps water up to the filtering plants before it flows into the canal and back to the pond. Genius!
Lorraine Kelly looks at home here among the flowers, and we can't blame her! Positioning a comfy outdoor chair and coffee table amid your plants and colourful blooms is a beautiful – and no doubt fragrant – spot to relax.
Warner's Distillery Garden
This peaceful garden was designed by Helen Elks-Smith and built by Bowles and Wyer to reflect Falls Farm and the surrounding countryside where Warner's Distillery is located. Easy to recreate, think about surrounding your outdoor dining area with vibrant plants and blooms to provide a relaxing place to socialise and enjoy time outside.