Tabi Jackson Gee || Chelsea Flower Show
In this spring-time cluster of episodes, I look to the great outdoors, to gardens, garden design, landscaping and all things green and, in particular, that great institution Chelsea Flower Show. The show is a place to luxuriate in the great garden renaissance of the 2020s and to explore current themes, preoccupations and narratives.
For this episode, we are joined by garden designer and writer Tabi Jackson-Gee. She writes for a plethora of publications and I particularly enjoy her articles for the FT and House & Garden which explore varied and intriguing subjects which can also be found within her own garden design.
Image Credit: Tabi Jackson-Gee
Of late, these have included ‘the darling buds of decay’, garden lighting which supports rather than disrupts or confuses wildlife, the extraordinary naming of flowers, as well as practical concepts of using salvaged materials, planting for colour and finding the perfect garden fence.
Her gardens are locally minded, sensitive to and conscious of surroundings, they tell stories and are a delight to be in.
All this equips her to steer us through the great maze of Chelsea Flower Show. Tabi tells us about her own experiences of Chelsea, how the show is evolving over time, who to look out for this year, the themes of rewinding, mental health and the planet and what she is most looking forward to seeing.
“I think that the gardens at Chelsea Flower Show have been getting wilder and wilder over the last few years. It taps into a wider tend of moving away from neat and manicured gardens towards informality and working more closely with nature. ”