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

As I stepped into the shed, which was the entrance to this garden, I knew I was going to like it. They say first impressions count, and this to do list (who doesn’t love a list?!) and mix of vintage items, along with the humour had me hooked. Entering through a shed was definitely a point of difference so hats off to the garden’s designer Vivien Mosely, and of course to The Botanical Gardener who brought the design to life.

A handwritten to do list on a blackboard

Black walls in the shed entrance to the garden with vintage tools and pots hanging on the wall/shelves

Another view - straight on - of the vintage shelving tools & pots

The garden offers a glimpse into the future, so the blurb said.

It’s set in 25 years time, where water resources are limited and the landscape is parched. Which unfortunately may be a realistic outlook if this summer and it’s four heatwaves (so far) are anything to go by, unless we get better at capturing water, as there was certainly plenty of it about in the first few months of the year.

But also, 2050 is 25 years away - surely 2050 is in a future space age, not within actual reach. We can all remember 25 years in the past (well, if we’re old enough to) and often it’s forty years ago that feels like it was much closer.

But anyway back to the garden.

An old municipal type water fountain filled with succulents, with the seating area beyond

2050 is a garden that invites visitors to consider how gardening will change, and what plant species we can plant in our gardens today that will also thrive in the future. And my own increasing addiction to succulents isn’t lost on me either, here they’re used in a stunning and dramatic way to replace the ‘lost’ water.

A closer look at the bulbs and succulent planting in the fountain

Looking across the floaty planting of grasses to the seating area

By using derelict artefacts and features evoking a sense of nostalgia the garden reminds us that we don’t miss the water until the well runs dry, but also that we can create something beautiful as we adapt to the changing climate.

There’s definitely something to think about there, and how we adapt our planting now, whether we do that consciously, or sub-consciously as the garden centres change their offering looking towards the longer-term.

And this garden shows, it can still be beautiful and attractive. I’m not one for a water feature in the garden, but a fountain of succulents, now that would be something else wouldn’t it?

The slightly sunken seating area, edged with dark bricks and surrounded by planting including splurge and red hot pokers

Looking more closely at the planting around the seating area, topped with gravel

While at the show I was keen to eye up seating areas, especially those that might be on gravel. And this one delivered all of that. It’s something I’d been thinking about for our garden here - though I’m not sure if the gravel would work in reality. It’d be like walking across lego once you’d kicked back and kicked off your flip flops wouldn’t it?

Stepping back to admire the sunken seated area, a potential firepit and the planting

I like the architectural detail around the sunken seating area, and spent quite a while thinking if a sunken area could work in our garden. Then I realised it would probably annoy me, and make me feel constrained, and that along with the prospect of finding much builder’s rubble consigned the idea for our garden to history!

But it doesn’t make me love this garden any less, what do you think?

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was quite a show! I’ll be sharing more from my visit to this year’s show throughout the year - I hope you enjoy them as much as I did the show.