RHS London Flower Shows September 2006

Things in the garden may still be blooming, but as summer starts to wind down it is a good time to start thinking ahead to next year’s garden. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) London Flower Show, 12 – 13 September, is a feast of seasonal colour, and offers plenty of advice for anyone who wants to get their hands dirty and create a spectacle next summer. To book tickets call 0845 612 1253.

Guy Barter, Horticultural Advisor at the RHS, said: “The major flower shows earlier in the summer stirred up a new wave of trends and ideas, and now is the time to start putting that inspiration into practice. Grasses were everywhere at Chelsea and new ways of using them are appearing all the time. The hot weather this summer has shown up weaknesses in borders, and grasses are ideal to replace plants that have succumbed to the dry weather. The weather we have seen this summer is consistent with what we expect to become more common in the long-term, and people should definitely take this into consideration when planning their gardens.”

As the UK’s leading gardening charity, the RHS offers visitors to the show the chance to meet Guy Barter and other members of the RHS Advisory team for one-to-one advice on any gardening query. This advisory service is available to RHS members all year round. For details about becoming a member and enjoying privileged entry to RHS flower shows amongst many other benefits, please call 0845 0670 0000 or visit www.rhs.org.uk/membership

Guy offers a few tips on how to start planning your garden for the year ahead:

§ Examine, and ideally record on camera, your borders now. If there are gaps you’d like to fill, make a note of where they are as it might not be so obvious when the plants start dying down in the autumn.

§ Order plants now for delivery before next summer. Planting in moist autumn or spring soil gets plants off to a good start helping them to resist dry spells in the summer.

§ Lawns have suffered this summer. Scarifying, aerating and top dressing your lawn in September will allow the grass to respond to treatment before the temperatures fall too low and have the best root system to resist dry soils next year.

The RHS London Flower Show can provide the plants to turn the plans into reality, with over 25 of the UK’s leading nurseries exhibiting at the two-day show. At the forefront of horticultural trends, Foxgrove Plants and Longacre Nursery will be staging displays of ornamental grasses, while Pennard Plants and The Old Walled Garden will be bringing a host of sun-loving plants from the southern hemisphere.

Visitors to the show can buy plants and speak directly to the expert growers to find out how to care for their plants and create something spectacular.

RHS London Flower Shows are held seven times a year in autumn, winter and spring and are where some of the UK’s best specialist nurseries create stunning displays of seasonal plants, flowers, trees and shrubs.

Venue: RHS Horticultural Halls, Greycoat Street, SW1 (nearest tubes are St James
Park and Victoria, 5 minutes)

Opening Times: 1st day 11am-7pm
2nd day 10am-5pm

Ticket Prices: 1st day £5
2nd day £3
RHS members FREE

To book tickets in advance, call T: 0845 612 1253

Upcoming RHS London Flower Shows

§ 3 – 4 October 2006
§ 10 – 11 November 2006
§ 16 – 17 January 2007
§ 13 – 14 February 2007
§ 13 – 14 March 2007
§ 3 – 4 April 2007