Chelsea Flower Show gardens to be judged on how eco-friendly they are
Every RHS Chelsea Flower Show exhibitor strives to win a Gold medal, but gardens will now also be judged on how eco-friendly they are to reflect the demands of sustainable gardening.
For years, gardens have gone through a rigorous judging process to win Gold, Silver-Gilt, Silver and Bronze medals based on their delivery of initial brief, design, concept, originality, layout, construction, planting and much more – but it looks like things could get even harder next year.
James Alexander-Sinclair, who has been an RHS judge since 2008, told The Telegraph that this year judges were testing questions on a selection of entrants based on their carbon footprint. On the hunt for perfection, they will look out for gardens that avoid peat, use less concrete and choose locally sourced materials. If the questions are appropriate, judges will implement them for real in 2023.
"We are very aware that Chelsea gardens need to be more sustainable than they have been in the past," said James. "We are certain that every single garden that's coming to Chelsea this year has got a future, and something we are looking at for the future is rewarding the use of sustainable materials and approaches.
"This year it's a separate parallel judging process, where we are testing new criteria. An experimental judging panel made up of experienced judges will look at how the gardens would do if we judged them against that criteria."
As well as having better eco credentials, gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show will also need to have a clear plan about what will happen to the plants, flowers and structures afterwards. In order to prevent waste, the RHS is pushing for more gardens to be resurrected elsewhere.
James explains: "When they submit their designs, one of the questions is about sustainability — how they propose to recycle the garden, and also where the materials are coming from — have they use local materials, have they used materials that are from the UK or have they had to come from miles abroad, which means a bigger carbon footprint."
We have seen this already, with many garden designers revealing plans for their beautiful spaces to live on. Joe Perkins' The Meta Garden: Growing the Future is partnering with the National Forest to re-home the garden so that millions of people can enjoy it for years to come. Meanwhile, elements of the Morris & Co. Garden will be relocated to three community gardens within Islington's Packington Estate to inspire a new generation of gardeners.
In other eco news, last month the RHS announced that artificial grass would be banned from its shows due to its damaging effect on the environment which does not align with its ethics.
Ed Horne, Head of Communications at the RHS, said: "We launched our sustainability strategy last year and fake grass is just not in line with our ethos and views on plastic. We recommend using real grass because of its environmental benefits, which include supporting wildlife, mitigating flooding and cooling the environment."
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