The Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows are always a huge highlight on the horticulture calendar, with designers and organisations from all over the world flocking to the capital to display their carefully crafted show gardens in the hope of taking home one of those prestigious medals. Throughout the year, garden designers have been hard at work planning their displays, now’s the time has finally come to bring these masterpieces to life. The following are a few displays to look out for at this year’s shows. RHS Chelsea Flower Show 23-27 May 2017 The M & G Garden Firstly, let’s start with The M & G Garden’s display, the brain child of award winning designer James Basson, the garden is inspired by the principles of ecological sustainability and the urgent need for action to preserve the fragile balance of our planet. Using the unique Mediterranean Landscape and sustainable ecology of Malta as a blueprint, Basson has situated the garden within a quarry separated into a series of spaces, each with its own ecology. The Bermuda Triangle Jack Dunckley’s Bermuda Triangle is a representation of an active volcanic landscape, drawing inspiration from Bermuda and the Caribbean. At its centre is placed a large palm surrounded by four fire pits each centred within a sanctuary of tropical planting. To really give the feel of lava, the garden pairs man-made materials such as aluminium and perplex with stunning tropical planting Welcome To Yorkshire The Welcome to Yorkshire Garden is a celebration of the Yorkshire coast, it reflects the natural beauty of the rugged shoreline, including chalk cliffs, a sandy beach and even the sea complete with gently rolling waves. The Gardens main aim is to highlight Yorkshires special relationship with the land and rural economy. Designer Tracy Foster has gone as far as to include the ruins of an ancient abbey within the display to shine a light on the regions fascinating history. 500 Years of Covent Garden Supported by Capco 500 years of Covent Garden paints the picture of Covent Garden before the age of street performers and high street retailers. The display takes visitors all the way back to Covent Garden’s origins, when it was an orchard belonging to Westminster Abbey. As you enter the garden you’re immersed In the area’s rich floral heritage, conveyed in the planting. The iron archways are a nod to the famous marketplace and Covent Garden as we know it today RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 4-9th July 2017 London Glades Future Gardens London have designed a completely sustainable space. Almost every plant included in this display has an edible quality, seeded vegetables and green manures can be found dotted around generous planting. Their key theme was sustainability, with this in mind there’s no hard landscaping found throughout the garden, walkways have been created using alternative lawn covers. Inspiration for this idea was drawn from Japanese architecture and design, particularly its sensitivity and respect of sacred spaces. Journey Latin America RHS award-winning garden designer Jennifer Jones’s Latin America’s Chilean Garden portrays Chile’s most awe-inspiring regions from north to south: the Atacama Desert, Central Valley vineyards and Patagonia. One side of the garden is surrounded by water, symbolising both the lakes of Patagonia and the South Pacific Ocean which runs the length of Chili. Designed with an alfresco lifestyle in mind the garden features a bespoke “Atacama stargazing” pergola and an intimate wine tasting area. Holding Back the Flood As was evident with last year’s UNHCR border control garden, Hampton court is developing a patent for including controversial and on topic display’s. Will Williams’ Holding Back the Flood is no exception. Drawing inspiration from the small North Yorkshire town of North Pickering, where a multi-million pound flood protection grant was turned down despite its location at the foot of the North Yorkshire Moore and its recent history as a flood hotspot. Holding Back the Flood cleverly displays that alder trees and leaky dams can be used as an attractive alternative to concrete barriers. Brownfield – Metamorphosis Designer Martyn Wilson’s Metamorphosis draws inspiration from the incredibly successful High Line in New York and the Landschaftpark in Germany. The garden focuses on regeneration, and turning industrial space into a green and pleasant area. The display features a series of monolithic steel structures that reference manufacturing industries of the Industrial Age. Each structure is marked and torn mirroring the decline in these industries. Self-seeding trees and vegetation replace the decay in areas throughout the garden to create the effect of natural regeneration. At The London Lawn Turf Co. we are delighted to once again be supplying a number of these gardens with their top soil, bark and of course our award winning Rolawn Medallion Turf. If you’d like to buy tickets to attend of wish to find out more about the event, head to the RHS website here. Don’t forget to keep up to date with what’s happening at the shows via our Twitter account, @LondonLawnTurf.