Who will win People's Choice, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2016?

So, 7.30 tonight and The People's Choice at Chelsea Flower Show will be announced. Who do you favour? Compared to last year, it seems less easy to pick obvious candidates. However, I'll go out on a limb here and say that I think Jo Thompson's Chelsea Barracks Garden is a good bet.

Jo Thompson's Qatari Diar Chelsea Barracks Garden. Won Gold. Copyright RHS. Credit: RHS/Neil Hepworth 

Lots of people don't like this, including garden critic Tim Richardson, who wrote in The Telegraph in his predictions for Best in Show (which he got spot on with tipping Andy Sturgeon's Telegraph Garden) that it was bewildering with a "curiously empty look", given the "bare island of lawn" in the middle.

When I bumped into him in front of this very garden, he wasn't showing any sign of changing his mind, and muttered darkly about "generic planting". But both of these are what I think might appeal. The lawn makes it feel familiar as a domestic garden and the planting was rich, frothy and full of colour.

Richly coloured planting by Jo Thompson.

There's also that lovely curve to the path - which I'd hazard is generally appealing. It wasn't without its build difficulties. The absolute precision of matching the curves of the specially imported basaltite paving with the steel edging was complicated by the large size of the pieces involved and dangers of flexing. But all that was overcome in a really gorgeous path, etched to represent ripples of the River Westbourne which runs beneath the original site of Chelsea Barracks.

The wall at the back is covered by a curtain of water.

When I passed on Monday, extra colour had been injected for a moment in front of that wall of water:

Designer Jo Thompson with a military band in The Chelsea Barracks Garden

It's possible that James Basson might snaffle the award this year. I suspect he came near the top of the list last year with his evocation of Provence, and this year's is every bit as evocative.

James Basson's L'Occitane Garden. Won Gold.

Diarmuid Gavin's English Eccentrics Garden also has crowd-pleasing ebullient planting.

Diarmuid Gavin's Harrods British Eccentrics Garden won Silver Gilt.

The overall impression is warmth and charm, but I think the gismos might be a step too far, and there's something a little too ersatz about the tower.

The British Eccentrics Garden by Diarmuid Gavin. Copyright RHS. Credit RHS/Sarah Cuttle.

Cleve West's M&G garden has the same sort of country appeal of L'Occitane Garden, but contrasted with modern sawn paving, balancing a full, busy naturalistic half...

Cleve West's M&G Garden. Won Gold.

...with a still, minimalist area that encouraged contemplation. That certainly seemed to be the effect on Dan Pearson who looked somewhat removed from the frenzy of Press Day:

Dan Pearson contemplates Cleve West's M&G Garden.

The more I looked at this, the more I enjoyed it. It was all the more fascinating for the fact that the huge beige-coloured boulders and the pale sawn paving were actually the same Forest of Dean sandstone. But from the outside it was difficult to really appreciate the water feature so I'm not sure this will win enough hearts. 

The M&G Garden is an evocation of Exmoor, where designer Cleve West spent his boyhood.

 

Finally, I have rather a soft spot for the Support, The Husqvarna Garden.

Support, The Husqvarna Garden, designed by Charlie Albone. Won Silver Gilt.

 

It hasn't caused much of a stir. Tim Richardson described it as the "standard Chelsea...formula" because it's mixing a formal structure and flouncy planting, but I liked it for the feeling that it would be an enjoyable garden to own. Seating at one end...

Setts created a more rustic feel in the seating area in contrast with the cantilevered shade.

 ...with a lovely view of the mixed tightly clipped and relaxed topiary (I'm a sucker for topiary), a lawn (ditto), and some unusual planting that made one stop and look closer.

Unusual planting added interesting texture to Charlie Albone's Support, The Husqvarna Garden.

This is, indeed, the one I would like to get the People's Choice award at Chelsea this year. On the whole, though, I suspect Jo Thompson has a better chance.

For a whizz round other gardens:

RHS Chelsea 2016 - don't forget your oranges

The Personal Connection with Nature's Rhythms  about the Papworth Trust Together We Can garden (on WireonWire.com)

 

Comments

[VP]

Nope, Jo's garden didn't do it for me either. Jo's gardens usually have some much-needed soul, and I'm usually such a fan of what she does.

My money was on Diarmuid Gavin (having been spot-on re Best in Show I was on for a double), but I was heartily glad to see Matthew Wilson take the prize. It was one of the garden which resonated with me :)

[Helen]

I wasn't bowled over by Jo's but I did think it would get a good vote. Obviously I was wrong! Wouldn't it be interesting to have a first, second and third, though? The Yorkshire garden was lovely - somehow seeing it first out of the Press Tent I didn't give it the attention it deserved.

[Joy Harding]

I was amazed at the Australian entry as it was not the typical rustic native plantings, but after thinking about it I came to realize that the team were portraying that formal gardens can be grown in Australia and using European type plants. I thought it was a very restful design that one would really wish to get home to after a stressful day at the office.

[Helen]

Hi, Joy. Thank you for commenting. I agree, it was a very restful design, and nice to see the influence of a country incorporated without the need to reproduce it in detail.