Five of the best... sustainable gardening ideas from Hampton Court

Two giant London summer flower shows bestride the summer season like twin behemoths. There’s Chelsea at the end of May, of course, trailing Chanel and Gucci and champagne and smelling (expensively) of success; and then there’s Hampton Court in July, more Barbour jacket, Hunter wellies and ice cream for the kids, trailing secateurs and a faint whiff of compost. I know which I’d rather have to a dinner party.

Hampton Court Palace looking as handsome as ever

Hampton Court is in any case my spiritual home as the timing is perfect for food growing, so there are always tons of good veg gardens (with all the veg in season, unlike the forced and improbably large and perfect specimens you get at Chelsea). It’s not really a show about fancy gardens, though there are some, and some exquisitely staged displays in the Floral Marquee too if that’s your thing. It’s more about actual gardening – different ways to grow things, and supremely practical ideas to take home.

It's no more sustainable, as a show, than Chelsea of course: on a trip round the Floral Marquee I spotted just one stand which was selling its plants in anything other than a plastic pot. So a big shout out to Foster’s Exotic and Unusual Plants in North Lincolnshire and their beautiful little clay pot housed cacti and succulents. But a massive sigh of disappointment to all the rest: couldn’t just one of you have showcased how easy it is to grow in pulp pots, or Vipots, or even coir?

Succulents in clay pots… though plastic labels *sigh*

Luckily I was more inspired out on the showground, particularly by a set of little Allotment Gardens jam packed with great sustainable ideas using recycled, upcycled, repurposed and generally charming items with a big dollop of imagination to create some truly inspirational growing spaces. Here are my favourites.