Looking ahead to this year's Gardeners' World Live Show

* I have been invited this year’s Gardeners’ World Live and provided with a pair of tickets to visit the show, therefore all my posts will be marked as 'Ad’ though as usual my views and opinions are very much my own.

This year I’m unable to make it to the press preview before the show opens, but thankfully I’m still able to get to the show. For the first time I’ll be going along on the Sunday, so it’ll be interesting to see how the show is different on its final day.

As ever the Gardeners’ World team have an amazing line up planned for theshow, and my plan is still to see as much of it as I can - but this year, more than ever, I need a plan so we can cram as much as we can into a single day.

1 Nick Bailey’s Show Garden - The Plant-Based Garden

I’m keen to see how Nick has incorporated the ‘Make a Metre Matter’ campaign into his garden. The pre-show information says that it will be packed with Make a Metre Matter metres, so I’m sure it will provide plenty of inspiration for me, and everyone else who visits the garden.

Picture credit © BBC Gardeners’ World Live - A Sketch of Nick Bailey's Headline Show Garden, The Plant-Based Garden

Picture credit © BBC Gardeners’ World Live - A Sketch of Nick Bailey's Headline Show Garden, The Plant-Based Garden

2 Pip Probert’s ‘Make a Metre Matter’ collection

Yes, this campaign has really captured my imagination - we all have a metre that we can ‘donate’ and make good use of. At the show Pip aims to bring some of the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine’s creative ideas to life, and she’s also designed some special metres to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Greenfingers, the charity which creates children’s hospice gardens.

3 The Green Rooms

With more houseplants than I’ve ever had before I’m keen to find out more about how I should be caring for my ever growing indoor plant collection, getting as much advice as I can from Sarah Gerrard-Jones (@theplantrescurer) and Ian Morrison. And maybe of course I’ll be able to add to those…

4 All of the Show Gardens and all of the Beautiful Borders

Yes, there are lots of these and it’s my plan as ever to get to see, and photograph, them all. I already know there’s going to be some corkers, and I’m especially going to be looking out for the Midlands Air Ambulance Reflection Garden, the New Build Garden by Mimosa Design Ltd and Garden Organic’s wildlife garden.

Plus this year the APL Show Gardens will have a theme of water, which is something that’s not really big on my garden wish list, so we’ll see if these professionally designed gardens can change my mind.

The theme for the Beautiful Borders this year is ‘Cultivating Connections’ and includes a design from Lego, the 160th Unbirthday of Alice in Wonderland, the Golden Hour and the Milky Way - so I’m even more intrigued than I was to see how they’ve interpreted the theme.

5 Hot Off The Potting Bench in the Floral Marquee

I know that the marquee is going to be an assault on all of my senses, but last year I really enjoyed seeing the new plants and varieties on show, and which we may see in our garden centres in the years to come.

One of the school's wheelbarrow entries from the 2023 show - complete with papermache insect head

And finally,

And I don’t think I’ll ever stop enjoying the Health for Life Wheelbarrow Competition, with entries from local school children. The theme is once again a ‘food and climate’ theme so it’ll be interesting to see their interpretation, which at times is far from what you’d think from these creative young minds.

This year may be the year we spend time in the Plant Village as it could also be the first year that we drive to the NEC, rather than go on the train. It could be very dangerous, but also as it’s the last day of the show there could be some bargains to be had. We’ll see.

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s show.

Gardeners' World Live 2025: Win a pair of tickets for Sunday 15 June, plus discount code

The competition has now closed.

The discount code remains available to use until it expires at 23:59 on 4 June 2025 - see the section further down this post for more details and how to use.

Once again I’m happy to pair up with the team at BBC Gardeners’ World Live for this competition where you can enter to win a pair of standard adult tickets to BBC Gardeners’ World Live at Birmingham NEC. The tickets offered as the prize for this competition are valid for Sunday 15 June, 9am entry with a RRP of £58.00. For details of how to enter please see the ‘How to enter’ section further on in this post. I also have a discount code which you can use when purchasing tickets, the code is shown in the ‘Use my discount code’ section also further on in this post.

What to see at this year’s show

In all honesty if it’s garden-related then it’ll probably be at Gardener’s World Live! As well as the Floral Marquee, inspiring Show Gardens, popular presenters and plant experts there’ll be a whole host of ideas and inspiration which you can replicate in your own gardens, or maybe just admire on the day!

But I recommend looking out for:

  • Nick Bailey’s headline Show Garden, The Plant-Based Garden which brings the Make a Metre Matter campaign to life. The garden has a homestead feel with a cluster of feature builds, meadow-like planting, an elegant dining space and a series of beds for cut flowers, veg, herbs and composting. A multi-occupancy birdhouse is designed to suit different bird species. Three ornamental Make a Metre Matter ponds will demonstrate how to attract a range of wildlife to a tiny space. Block planting metres will provide colour inspiration and attract pollinators, with raised bed metres proving that productive veg growing is possible in even the tightest spots.

  • New for this year is Adam Frost’s Tasting Table - an interactive and exclusive new gardening and gastronomy experience. The BBC Gardeners’ World presenter and keen veg grower welcomes culinary experts and guest chefs from sister event, Good Food Show Summer for live cooking demonstrations, kitchen gardening tips and inspiring conversations. Guests include Rachel Allen, Chris Bavin, Si King, James Martin, John Torode and Lisa Faulkner, plus Barney Desmazery and Cassie King from Good Food Magazine.

  • Also new is the ‘In Conversation With’ Stage where award-winning gardener, writer and presenter Ade Sellars (The Good Life Gardener) hosts a daily programme of relaxed garden and lifestyle chat with acclaimed horticulturalists and gardening personalities. Guests include BBC Gardeners’ World’s Sue Kent, Pip Probert and Jason Williams (Cloud Gardener UK).

  • This year’s Show Gardens include the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity Medicinal Garden designed by Rupert Keys as a space for healing. More than just a collection of plants, it is a living tribute to early medicine and second chances. Every bloom symbolises a life saved, every pathway a journey of recovery, and every tree a reminder of the Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s role in giving people another opportunity to thrive. The garden will be relocated from BBC Gardeners’ World Live to the new Midlands Air Ambulance site at Shifnal in Shropshire.

  • In the Association of Professional Landscapers’ popular APL Avenue, three member companies will be showcasing their technical skills, attention to detail and creative use of materials with exciting back garden designs inspired by water. This year’s entries are The Watershed Garden by The Botanical Gardener, A Garden For All Weathers by August Ponds, and Wallace Line by Dave Hodson. The APL celebrates its 30th anniversary with a feature garden by designer Rachel Bailey, called Where There’s Water, There’s Life.

  • Plus in the Floral Marquee make sure you don’t miss the Hot Off The Potting Bench walk-through gallery for brand new plants and varieties, all entered for the coveted Peter Seabrook Award for Best New Plant, or the International Orchid Show, hosted by the British Orchid Council, which is returning to GWL this year.

  • The Health for Life Wheelbarrow Competition returns with the next generation of gardeners, designers and growers. Children from local schools and nurseries will be creating wheelbarrow planters with a ‘food and climate change’ theme - these are always brilliant to see.

  • And of course make sure you leave enough time to have a wander around Good Food Show Summer, featuring demonstrations and theatres, stages and talks, tastings and workshops, which is included with your Gardeners’ World Live entry.

It’s a really great day out, but one that can be full on at times - come prepared to be inspired!

How to enter

To enter to win a pair of standard adult tickets valid for Sunday 15 June 9am entry, you need to leave a comment on this blog post telling me why you want to attend Gardeners’ World Live, then click on the widget below and complete your entry - you can get more entries by interacting on social media.

A winner will be chosen and contacted by email on Tuesday 20 May.

Use my discount code

Use the discount code* SAVE15 for 15% off standard adult/concession entry tickets (excluding Saturday) - this code expires at 23:59 on 4 June 2025.

*Discounts valid on adult/concession standard entry tickets on standard entry tickets. Not valid on VIP, 2-day tickets, added extras or with any other offer. £3.95 transaction fee per e-ticket order. Details correct at time of publication.

Walking East Stoke's lanes: April 2025

The month started and ended with some great weather, and we got out and walked various lanes around East Stoke in both of those good spells, and more besides.

After a busy weekend involving a long car journey to West Sussex and back it was an easy choice to get out in the lanes when the weather looked like this.

Which is how my first walk of the month ended up walking to and from my weekly yoga class in neighbouring Elston, MOH joined me for the journey there - it really was just too nice to be indoors.

It was great to see nature waking up, and to feel the sun on my skin as I walked the thirty minutes or so to the next village.

And just look how blue that sky was, an almost unbelievable blue for the start of April. But what’s almost as unbelievable is that just to the left of the tree below is the busy A46, you’d never know from the picture would you?

It was great to see the blackthorn blossom, and that prickly rambler - I’ll need to remember where this is when I’m looking for rosehips later in the year!

What a gloriously colourful start to the month, which although it would be repeated, it didn’t last and the grey skies returned, and I’ve captured the ‘ripple’ of clouds in our next venture out a couple of weeks later. This time our route took us down towards the River Trent.

CHURCH LANE

And we’d clearly arrived for nettle and dandelion season - they were everywhere, even growing out of the Stoke Hall boundary wall.

CHURCH LANE

It was a typical spring day, and the photo of the open gate to Stoke Hall is probably the most spring-like picture I’ve taken.

CHURCH LANE

A few days later over the Easter weekend we took a brief stroll with family down to St Oswald’s Church, and I couldn’t help but be amused by the sheep that are seemingly on the top of the wall. I’m assuming the ground level is higher on the other side, as they didn’t look that precarious at all.

CHURCH LANE

We snuck in a final walk on the penultimate day of the month, another warm one - but this time the sky was full of wispy clouds as we headed down Moor Lane, once again walking from the crossroads to the bend.

MOOR LANE

MOOR LANE

MOOR LANE

It was a walk where the wildlife was much in evidence, and one of the yellow wagtails obligingly perched on the top of the hedgerow for way longer than I’ve seen before - it’s reward a photo, well several actually. We spotted the hare sitting in the middle of the field shortly after that, this is a much zoomed in shot - and still it’s just the silhouette that’s visible.

MOOR LANE

The wispy clouds are cirrus clouds - I had to look it up! - and it seems they can be a sign of approaching weather changes, particularly warm fronts, which makes sense as the days after I took this photo the forecasts for the mini-heatwave.

FOSSE ROAD - SCHOOL LANE

I couldn’t end this post without some more sheep, and their lambs. These are in the field at the crossroads in East Stoke and on the warmest days sensibly spend their time under the large oak tree.

Thanks for joining me for this update, if you enjoyed this post you may also like to see all of the posts in this series.