The 2012 Olympics has even had an impact on gardening. Of the 14 show gardens at The RHS Malvern Spring Gardening Show, 50% have a sporting theme whilst ALL of them mirror the naturalistic planting in the London Olympic Park.

The Malvern event is the first major gardening show of the year. The show gardens, created by some of the country’s leading designers and Chelsea medal winners, will be on display from 9th – 12th May at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern.

THEMES

• Sport – particularly cycling – is predominant taking inspiration both from Team GB’s cycling success as well as this year’s Tour de France, which celebrates its 100th anniversary.
• Sustainability, up-cycling and the environment continue to be popular themes with a natural burial site and solar paving the subject of a further two gardens.
• Naturalistic planting is common to all of the gardens. Herbs, vegetables and fruit trees are no longer segregated but feature within flowerbeds and throughout the garden.
• Dr Who – this year is the 50th anniversary of the cult TV programme and one of the show gardens pays tribute to the beloved Timelord complete with Dalek.

PLANTS

• Herbs, especially lavender and those that provide scent, are a must.
• Edible flowers, such as calendula and courgette blossoms – anything which looks and tastes good.
• Salad plants happily grow in flowerbeds alongside more formal planting.
• Grasses are popular in many of the gardens whether they have a Mediterranean or English woodland theme to them.

COLOURS

• Yellow has been colour non grata in gardens for a while but, given its association with cycling, it’s now making a comeback.
• Red, white and blue underpin the continued patriotism.
• Purple is another favourite amongst most of the gardens.

LANDSCAPING

• Spirals and circles appear within many of the gardens, again reflecting both the Olympic and cycling themes.
• Formal trees and topiary provide the strong, architectural lines within the naturalistic planting in many of the gardens.

Commenting on this year’s trends, Three Counties Showground Communications Manager, Sharon Gilbert, said: “The RHS Spring Show is the gardener’s equivalent to London Fashion Week where people get the first look at what all the best gardens will be ‘wearing’ this year.

It’s wonderful to see the Olympic Effect has had a major impact on gardening but it wouldn’t be the Spring Show without at least one quirky show garden which, this year, is the Dr Who garden, without a doubt”.