Midlands Air Ambulance Charity’s Medicinal Garden is a living tribute to the charity’s lifesaving work and the positive impact it has on patients’ recovery. Designed by Lucy Chapman and Helen Swan and built by multi award-winning Rupert Keys from TASK Academy in Pershore, the charity’s large-scale Show Garden explores trauma and medical emergency through to recovery and the restorative power of nature. Nature has long been intertwined with healing, and many of the plants in the garden reflect this connection.
The Medicinal Garden invites visitors to reflect on the fragility of life, the strength of the human spirit, and the vital role Midlands Air Ambulance Charity plays in saving lives and giving new chances to flourish. At a later date after BBC Gardeners’ World Live, elements of the garden will be permanently re-located to the charity’s airbase and headquarters at Shifnal in Shropshire as an enduring place of reflection and remembrance for patients, families and crew.
Coventry-based Garden Organic is a national organic growing charity, dedicated to researching and promoting organic gardening, farming and food. Nature and nourishment are at the heart of its Rooted in Nature Show Garden which will demonstrate that diversely planted kitchen gardens can provide fresh food for the family while buffering the biodiversity crisis. Based around the charity’s research paper, Every Garden Matters, the garden demonstrates easy ways to encourage wildlife and manage water while growing your own food. In the vegetable patch, diverse and colourful heirloom vegetables attract vital pollinators while reducing ‘pest’ insects and the need for pesticides. A rain garden mimics the natural action of a forest by capturing rainwater in a plant-filled ditch, helping to reduce flooding, soil erosion and drought. A wildlife pond is surrounded by bug-friendly elements like rot holes, frog rocks and hoverfly lagoons. Even the compost heap comes complete with a bee house.
Sunflower Power is a Showcase Garden designed for Kingswinford Leukaemia charity, Beth’s Sunflowers, which grows and sells sunflower seeds to raise funds. One of nature’s mathematical marvels, sunflowers follow the sun, their seeds arranged in spirals (the Fibonacci sequence) that optimise space and maximise exposure to the sun. Designed by Hannah Thomas with landscaping by Jack Moody Group in Wolverhampton, the garden celebrates the power and positivity of the sunflower as a force for good, highlighting the charity’s work to support blood cancer research and patients. Beth’s Sunflowers was established by Andrea Childs after the death of her daughter, Beth, 20, from Leukaemia in 2018.
Always popular at BBC Gardeners’ World Live, the small but perfectly formed Beautiful Borders are 9m2 miniature show gardens, packed with creative planting and design inspiration for small gardens and difficult spaces. The theme for this year’s Beautiful Borders is ’Cultivating Connections’ and designers from the West Midlands have been quick to take up the challenge.
Sutton Coldfield designer, Alexandra Valk, from Wylde & Green has created a Border called After the End which explores the connections between the end and the beginning of life. Death is represented by a spiral of logs made from dead wood. As the wood rots down, nutrients pass to the organisms and creatures living in the soil, and from this decay springs forth a new garden. A spiral shaped design reflects that commonly found in nature, from whirlwinds to snail shells, and the association with rebirth found in cultures around the world.
Halesowen designer Christopher North’s Border, A British Rainforest, raises awareness of temperate rainforests and the need to protect them. Rarer than their tropical counterparts, temperate rainforests are globally important habitats found in mild climates with high rainfall and humidity. They are rich in biodiversity, but are increasingly rare in Britain, threatened by deforestation and overgrazing. A British Rainforest encapsulates a regenerating rainforest, underplanted with native British flora.
Based in Stirchley in Birmingham, designer Deborah Mole’s wildlife-friendly Border is called Creating Connection: Slugs and snails, making friends with our foes! The design, which is mindful of nature’s delicate connections, is a playful interpretation of a serious gardening concern that’s being exacerbated by climate change – slugs and snails devouring our cherished plants. Rather than eliminating these destructive garden pests, it seeks to prevent and minimise the damage done by planting specimens that slugs and snails choose not to munch on! Features also include copper railings, surfaces that gastropods avoid, and a ‘home remedy’ pool.
Laura Whiskens from Coleshill, Birmingham has designed Nourishing the Soul, a Border inspired by the gardens at Marie Curie Hospice in Solihull where Laura’s mother passed away in 2014. The hospice gardens provide a connection with nature that bring peace and comfort, and Laura’s Border is designed to do just that. A prayer book and pebbles feature, replicating those found in the hospice’s multi-faith prayer room.
Wouter Leyssen is a student at Winterbourne House and Gardens in Birmingham. His Border, The Milky Way – Thinking of the Moon and Stars, connects night and day as viewers experience stepping into a garden at night, only during broad daylight. Dark-leaved plants create the ‘alternate universe’ effect with scattered white flowers as stars, a white-greenish Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Irene Patterson’ as the moon and a gravel path Milky Way.
Lucy Tremlett, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World Live, said: “We’re always blown away by the creativity, brilliant design, hard work and effort that goes into creating the Show Gardens, Showcase Gardens and Beautiful Borders. We can’t wait to see these fantastic West Midlands teams bring their exciting designs to life at the NEC. BBC Gardeners’ World Live visitors can look forward to being wowed by a really exciting collection of gardens this year.”
BBC Gardeners’ World Live celebrates the height of the summer gardening season. Whether you’re a first-time grower or a green-fingered pro, it’s a great day out with new ideas at every turn. This year’s BBC Gardeners’ World ‘Make a Metre Matter’ campaign will take centre stage, encouraging people to transform one metre of outdoor space for the good of the planet. Supporting wildlife, saving water and reducing food miles are just some of the ways these collective metres will help.
Headline designer and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, Nick Bailey, brings the campaign’s ethos to life with The Plant-Based Garden, a plastic- and concrete-free Show Garden. Nicki Chapman joins Nick on his garden for daily chats about Make a Metre Matter, and he shares sustainable gardening tips at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Theatre too. Experts from Hillier, The Plant-Based Garden’s plant supplier, will be on hand with advice on how to achieve the look at home.
Award-winning designer Pip Probert (BBC 2 Your Garden Made Perfect) has created a collection of nine metres that matter for BBC Gardeners’ World Live, including a mini woodland, a veg patch and pond. Get involved in Make a Metre Matter by registering your own planet-friendly metres at GardenersWorld.com for a chance to win £500 or £1,000 of Crocus vouchers, or share a video with the BBC Gardeners’ World TV team for a possible TV appearance. 6,600 metres have already been pledged.
New for 2025 is Adam Frost’s Tasting Table, featuring ‘plot-to-plate’ demonstrations and conversations with guest chefs. Monty Don and friends share seasonal tips at the BBC Gardeners’ World Theatre, sponsored by British Garden Centres, and relaxed chat at the new ‘In Conversation With’ Stage. At the Floral Marquee, sponsored by Legal & General, the Let’s Talk Plants stage offers expert plant sessions by stage sponsor Hillier. The Hot Off The Potting Bench gallery showcases brand new plants and there are stunning displays at the International Orchid Show. Got a problem plant or vexing veg? Head to the Plant Experts’ Desk for 1:2:1 help.
Bring your shopping list! There’s a vast range of plant and garden shopping opportunities plus a Plant Crèche for end-of-day collection. Houseplant fans will love the Green Rooms, offering plants, pots and accessories, expert advice and workshops. Back outside, the Health for Life competition nurtures local young growers who create planted wheelbarrows with a food and climate change theme. There are hands-on gardening activities for children and global TV phenomenon, Bluey, will be making a weekend visit.
BBC Gardeners’ World Live tickets are on sale at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com. Tickets include entry to Good Food Show Summer, featuring celebrity chefs, demonstrations, theatres and workshops, with delicious food and drink to browse and buy.