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Welcome to the credit crunch flower show at Chelsea
Matthew Appleby13.05.09
Lavish designs, star names and big sponsors are thin on the ground; vegetable growing, green issues and value for money are in: welcome to the pruned-back Chelsea Flower Show.
Today organisers of the biggest event in the horticultural calendar told how, with the economy wilting, they are going back to basics.
This year's event, which starts on Tuesday, is likely to be very different to 2008. Then, some show gardens cost almost £1million and tickets were changing hands for three times face value.
Now, several big sponsors have pulled out. As a result, there will be 14 show gardens this year compared to 22 last year. Missing names include TV gardener Diarmuid Gavin.
The show, which has a capacity of 158,000, is yet to sell out — and a rival event in Hertfordshire next month, Future Gardens, has attracted several leading designers.
But Chelsea organisers welcomed the fact that designers are being forced back onto their own resources. This year, many of the gardens use recycled, environmentally friendly and low-cost materials. With allotments and homegrown food becoming more popular, vegetables feature prominently.
Sarah Eberle has created a series of cut-price “credit crunch” designs with titles such as the Overdrawn Artist's Garden and The Banker's Garden.
Places Of Change by the Eden Project, is a collaboration with prisoners and homeless people.
Previous sponsors that have pulled out include Marks & Spencer, Neal's Yard Remedies, and National Savings and Investments. Others, such as Lloyds TSB, have cut funding.
Dougal Philip, shows committee chairman of the Royal Horticultural Society, said: “Times are changing. You can do great things on smaller budget. The RHS is still something [designers] want for their CV and advertising.”
There is still some pre-credit-crunch whimsy, however — Top Gear's James May has designed an experimental garden made of Plasticine.
Gavin's sponsor, who he would not name, backed out after the gardener's plans became “too complicated and expensive”. Gavin said: “Five years ago everyone was excited by garden design but Chelsea has lost its way a bit and got silly — and I would be a large part of that happening. It will be a while before I go back to Chelsea.”
TV presenter and garden designer Chris Beardshaw, who has won three gold medals at the event, said: “Designs have become far too self-indulgent - an ego extension for designers rather than their horticultural prowess.”
Leading designers who will be at Future Gardens include husband and wife team Jane Hudson and Erik De Maeijer, Andy Sturgeon, Cleve West, and Andrew Fisher-Tomlin.
The show will take place in Chiswell Green, near St Albans, on 5 June. It is funded by its directors rather than sponsorship, with “limited” bank loans.Gardens are made to be sustainable for four months.
