If I’m honest, my trip to RHS Hampton 2022 wasn’t the easiest. This year, the Monday of the show was not the usual press day. Instead, we had exclusive access between 7am and 10am only after which the public were allowed in.
It didn’t give long to look around and take photos without crowds – and even less if you live too far away to be there by 7am.
It also turned out to be one of Hampton’s sunny years, making it bright for photos and hot to walk around. The ice cream sellers were doing a brisk trade and every inch of shade under trees was filled with visitors escaping the sun.
That said, RHS Hampton 2022 has plenty to see and some interesting ideas. Here are just a few of the things that caught my eye.
The Gardens at RHS Hampton 2022
Along with the judges – it won gold, Best Show Garden and Best Construction – I really liked Matthew Childs’ ‘Over the Wall Garden, Supported by Takeda UK’. The vibrant colours were perfect for a sunny summer day and it achieved his aim of an “uplifting, joyful space”.
It’s a walk through garden so trying to capture it with a long queue of visitors gradually filing through proved challenging.
There are lots of water features at this year’s show and I particularly liked these on Mark Gregory’s RHS Feature Garden, the RHS Planet-Friendly Garden.
Metal is also everywhere at RHS Hampton 2022 with containers or screens in many gardens, including ‘The Lunch Break Garden’ by Inspired Earth Design.
It’s one of the Get Started Gardens, which are aimed at beginner gardeners with easy to copy ideas.
A clever design with good planting, it also found favour with the judges and won Gold and Best in Show in this category.
Larger planters feature in Rhiannon William’s show garden, ‘John King Brain Tumour Foundation Garden’. It’s going to be rebuilt as a rooftop garden at St George’s Hospital for use by patients and staff.
Intricately detailed metal screens by Stark & Greensmith are set against soft planting in ‘Sunburst’, a show garden by Charlie Bloom and Simon Webster.
The Get Started Gardens have lots of ideas, such as this bench in the ‘Turfed Out’ garden by Hamzah-Adam Desai.
‘The Wooden Spoon Garden’ by Toni Bowater and Luch Welsh had some interesting bird feeders using wooden spoons or pieces of wood.
Sue Kent – familiar from her pieces on Gardeners’ World – has created a garden that’s for people who, like her, find physical work a challenge. Metal containers are used here as water features and there’s a great display or storage wall made from recycled materials.
It was the planting I liked though with lots of daisies and some beautiful roses.
The Nurseries
Naturally, I spent some time in the Floral Marquee, despite the heat and crowds. It was just as well I was travelling by train as there’s plenty of temptation.
This variegated knautia is on the Hare Spring Cottage Plants’ stand.
I was very tempted by a sit down on the seat among their flowers!
It pays to look closely at the nursery stands as lovely things are often tucked into the display.
Holders of a few of Plant Heritage’s National Collections have exhibits at the show. The National Collection of Cosmos bipinnatus by Jonathan Sheppard was attracting a lot of interest.
At the end of a long, hot day, I was severely tempted by this seat in the RHS Forest Bathing Garden by Dave Green. Only the steady stream of visitors to this walk through feature stopped me.
RHS Hampton 2022 runs until July 9. More information on the website.
Enjoyed this? Read about more of my show visits here and ensure you don’t miss future posts by signing up for an email alert.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022 Mandy Bradshaw