I am absolutely thrilled that I bought tickets for the Saturday and Sunday. I contemplated just going on the Saturday but I am so glad I didn’t; I would have never have gotten around it all!
As an added bonus – I booked myself a gold seat for Monty Don’s afternoon talk, and, as expected, he was an absolute dream to listen to.
Arrival!
I arrived by car at the NEC for 11:15am sharp, armed with my cowgirl boots, a summer dress, and a notebook and pen. I was directed into one of the North parking lots, just a minute or two’s walk straight into the main venue.
Luckily, there was a basket of show guides on the way in of which you could help yourself to and I grabbed one of those, sitting down on one of the seats outside of the venue to plan my day.
I had around an hour before Monty Don’s talk, the first planned item on my itinerary, so I decided to have a walk around the inside stalls to figure out where everything was and made mental notes of the stalls I wanted to visit.
I didn’t take any photos of the inside stalls, there were lots of people swanning around, and, honestly, I didn’t want to look like a tit trying to photograph everything I saw; but, there were so MANY.
I’m not sure what to expect as it was my first time, but I was super impressed. There were nursery stalls, stalls selling hot tubs and equipment, natural, handmade soaps, gorgeous caravan homes; stalls selling nothing but houseplants, stalls selling peat-alternative growing medium… You name it, it was there: and it was glorious.
I meandered around the stalls until it was time for Monty Don, and made my way to the main Gardener’s World Live Theatre.
Gardener's World Live Theatre
12:30pm; Monty Don
Although I didn’t learn a lot about gardening at his talk – besides a couple of small tips here and there – it was fascinating to listen to Monty talk about Gardener’s World and how it’s filmed. He spoke a little about his passion for gardening and his wardrobe options.
Did you know that every article of clothing he owns, he owns at least two of that item? Since they film GW out of order, he gets his clothes dirty and then has to be clean for another segment of the show. And if he then changes into something clean and needs to be dirty again, he’ll put the dirty clothes back on? Ingenious.
After talking to Nikki, they went on to audience questions, and, although lovely… most were just audience members saying ‘thank you’ to him and not really asking a lot of questions about horticulture. Ah, well. Never mind!
BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Stage
1:30pm; Gardening for Wildlife with magazine editors Lucy Hall and Kevin Smith
After admiring Monty’s cheeky red socks poking out from above his shoes, I had thirty minutes before the next stage I wanted to visit: Gardening for Wildlife – with Gardener’s World magazine editors Lucy Hall and Kevin Smith.
I loved it. It was so informative, and Lucy and Kevin were super friendly and answered the audience’s questions with ease.
They each created a ‘pollinator pot’, going into detail of each flower they’d chosen and why they’re good for pollinators.
They explained how different shaped flowers work for different pollinators, and how it’s important to provide plants for pollinators throughout the year.
Unfortunately, I didn’t write down the different varieties! But I’ll do a little more research for myself and pop some notes up here eventually 🙂
Other topics covered were how to introduce a pond into your space – and, top tip, try not to place your pond in full sun or under deciduous leaf fall!
Let's Grow Your Own Stage
2pm; Composting on Allotments and Community Gardens with Rod Weston
The National Allotment Society hosted this stage over the course of the event and quite rightly so! Through the weekend there were some really interesting looking talks held here, which, sadly, I didn’t have the time to go to; and the whole weekend I felt like there really needed to be two or three of me to catch everything I wanted to see.
Although Rod Weston didn’t really teach me anything I didn’t already know about composting (even if I don’t put any of it into practice!), I did learn a thing or two about creating my own leaf mould. I can’t wait to put it to good use come the Autumn, the spinney next to our allotment has a lovely wooded area and I’ll have an abundance of fallen leaves to collect for free!
I’ve really struggled this year with having enough compost for my garden and the allotment, so it was really nice to sit down and take notes and hear from an expert about what I really need to be doing to turn over larger amounts of compost more quickly. I started my compost bin last summer and because I’m useless at layering my materials and keeping the contents even, it has taken forever and a day to decompose!
The most interesting thing I think I took away from this talk is that diluted urine is good for your compost bin – who knew?!
I managed to pull a bin load out two or three weeks ago that looks fantastic, though, even if it was riddled with red ants!
On my to do list is a short and simple ‘how to’ of garden composting the right way (not the lazy way I’ve been doing it) – I might even draw you a little diagram. Magical.
Exploring!
While I’d planned in multiple talks throughout the day, I had plenty of time to have a wander around outside – when the weather permitted.
It was a little cold and drizzled on and off, but that didn’t put me off completely!
Gardeners’ World Live had an incredible amount on display, from ‘Beautiful Borders’ to the amazing show gardens, that have had so much work put into them.
The ‘Beautiful Borders’ displays were just that, and I’ll post more about those on my GWL Sunday post coming next, but I spent most of the free time I had on the Saturday in the Floral Marquee.
The marquee was so large I struggled to take it all in. Everywhere I turned there was something else to look at and I’m sure I still missed a whole lot over the Saturday and Sunday.
What I loved the most about the Floral Marquee was just how extensive the knowledge was of some of the specialist stallholders.
I had a fantastic chat with a gentleman from the British Pterodological Society about their ferns – which were just beautiful.
I adore ferns, and I think they’re incredibly underrated plants that aren’t utilised nearly half as much as they should be in gardens. As much as I love flowers, ferns just seem to add a beautiful softness and texture against walls of colour.
It was awesome to talk to someone who was so passionate about his plants – so I treated myself to a Pterodological Society tote bag and trolley coin.
Living the dream.
My Gardeners' World Stage
4pm; Plant Specialist Session with David Hurrion
After a good mooch around and a couple of houseplant purchases, I sat myself down at the My Gardeners’ World stage to listen to a talk from David Hurrion, who was marvellous.
He really knew his stuff, and breezed through different varieties of plants like he was reading out his shopping list.
Speaking about creating beautiful visuals in the garden such as using plants that compliment each other and add texture, for example planting the Salvia caradonna, and Echinacea varieties amongst compact, bushy plants like Rehmannias.
While speaking, he also touched on plants for insects and pollinators, and the importance of providing an environment for wildlife throughout every season.
Varieties of Astrantia, that have flat topped flowers that act as landing pads for insects; Tiarella, that has smaller flowers for smaller pollinators, and Digitalis varieties with tubular, bell shaped flowers for bees to wriggle into to collect their pollen.
I picked up some awesome tips for planting a garden throughout the year – so keep an eye out for those on my regular #QuickTipThursdays!
My favourite display!
I couldn’t close off this blog post without a whole section dedicated to my favourite display of the whole weekend.
Oh, it was just so clever. There was so much to look at in just the tiniest little space. This show garden was designed by Emma O’Neill and Chris Collins, and won a Gold award.
O’Neill and Collins were able to create a diverse space on a completely paved space measuring 5×5 metres.
Through the use of raised beds, containers, and vertical planting, the designers showed that you can grow just about anywhere, no matter your space.
I’ll leave this post here, since I seem to have rambled on forever and a day and I’ve only just covered the Saturday!!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my travels and check back soon enough for a new post… covering the Sunday!!
Have a fabulous weekend, until next time!
Althea xx
Thank-you so much for telling us of your experiences –Gardeners World –fantastic I’m thinking your going from strength to strength with gardening – Well done . xx