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Uproar as BBC gardening presenter claims Chelsea Flower Show designers don't need a knowledge of plants to win
Last updated at 16:22pm on 13.05.08Model-turned celebrity gardener Rachel de Thame has been slammed for claiming that Chelsea Flower Show garden designers do not need formal training.
The glamorous Gardeners' World presenter, who is currently creating her first Chelsea garden, said it was more important to have a good eye for design.
De Thame, 46, has previously come under fire from critics sniping that she is only on the hit BBC Two show because of her beauty rather than her horticultural expertise.
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Under fire: Gardeners' World presenter Rachel de Thame has said that Chelsea Flower Show designers don't need formal training
Now De Thame, who has no formal training in garden design and only became a professional gardener at the age of 35, is building one of the 44 main, world-famous gardens which can cost up to £250,000 each at this year's Royal Horticulture Society showpiece, which kicks off on May 20.
She said: "It's very important for people who design gardens that they have a strong feeling about how they should look - and I have a strong idea of how I want it to look.
"I haven't been formally trained in garden design though I've been designing gardens unwittingly for ages through Gardeners' World. I have a knowledge gap having not trained formally.
"Either you have an idea about how things should look as regards proportion and shape or you don't. It is something that can be coaxed out but really it is innate.
"I do feel it would have been nice to understand the technical aspects of the build side of it.
"But I do not particularly rate that as the most important thing. You can always go and find out about the technical side of it."
The former model and actress switched careers when she attended the English Gardening School in Chelsea, where she earned a certificate in practical horticulture and plants.
A talent spotter asked her to screen test for Gardeners' World when she was still at the school and the mother-of-four has now been teaching the nation how to garden for nine years and has filmed her own series, Small Town Gardens.
Her Chelsea garden is being sponsored by womenswear fashion house LK Bennett and Maida Vale, west London-based garden centre Clifton Nurseries.
Featuring shrub roses, peonies, irises and a single 'Forest Pansy' tree, it is said to combine "strong contemporary design with softness and opulence in the planting, capturing the cheerful look of an English country garden within an urban setting."
De Thame said she had taken inspiration from "the glamour and femininity of the 1950s" and costumes from the 1964 film adaptation of the stage musical My Fair Lady.
But Peter Thomas, chairman of the Society of Garden Designers branded her claim that garden design training was unnecessary "ludicrous".
He said: "She's saying there is no reason for choosing someone trained as a garden designer ahead of someone not trained in garden design. It's a ludicrous comment.
"A professional working in any creative industry benefits from having a good eye but if having a good eye was the sole criteria of being a garden designer there would not be the vast number of garden design courses on offer.
"Perhaps you can present a TV programme on plant care without knowing about plants by reading a script.
"But it's a ludicrous idea that you can design a garden without specialist knowledge and understanding of the material required."
Award-winning garden designer Roger Smith, who could not find a sponsor for Chelsea this year, said: "It takes a lot more than a good eye to design a good garden. You need lots of experience.
"But designers such as Rachel de Thame appeal to sponsors because of who they are rather than anything else.
"She's known in the gardening world and has been on TV a lot. If you're a sponsor and don't know about designers, you would pick someone like her.
"It's difficult to get the sponsorship you need if you're not a big name."
Critics say De Thame's success may make would-be garden designers wrongly think they do not need to train on one of the country's 40-plus accredited design courses.
Dr Steve Dowbiggin, chief executive of specialist London horticulture and landscaping centre Capel Manor College said there was no substitute for proper training.
He said: "Our ex-students are very successful at getting awards at Chelsea when they design their own gardens.
"That speaks for itself in terms of the value of encouraging qualified people to exhibit but I accept that occasionally there are extremely gifted, unqualified people who can design gardens and win awards.
"But in truth, they are very few and far between.
"People have a much better chance of building a career if they are properly trained."
