Hayley Campbell-Gibbons, NFU Chief Horticulture Adviser, visited RHS Chelsea this week. Taking part in an exclusive tour behind the scenes of the show gardens, Hayley explains the theory behind the living exhibits. She writes:
This year, courtesy of the RHS, and as a member of the Ornamentals Roundtable, the NFU joined a group of parliamentarians for an early morning guided tour of the show. Our mission - to embed the sector’s priorities firmly in the minds of the politicians that influence our industry.
Health and Harmony in practice
Escorted by Dr Tim Upson, RHS Director of Horticulture, we get up close and personal to the Show Gardens, which hours later will be ten-deep in people jostling for a view.
The Welcome to Yorkshire Garden captures our attention. With its pastureland – complete with cowpats! - woodland, a public footpath, flowing beck and Wensleydale creamery, the garden epitomises the productive and recreational harmony of the great British countryside.
Biosecurity post Brexit
Moving into the Great Pavilion and onto the Hilliers stand – who hold the world record for having the most consecutive Chelsea gold medals, bagging their 73rd this year – Tim tells us that the trees on display were quarantined for 18 months after being imported for biosecurity purposes.
RHS Head of Plant Health, Gerard Clover tells the group that there are currently over 998 pests and 100 diseases on the UK Plant Health Register - a tool for government, industry and stakeholders to prioritise action against pests and diseases that threaten our crops, trees, gardens and countryside.
Lord Rooker (past Defra Minister, and current member of the House of Lords EU Committee) is standing next to me (pictured above).
His Committee is due to launch a report imminently on Brexit and Biosecurity. He comments on the importance of not compromising – and indeed strengthening - biosecurity controls and protecting UK plant health as we prepare to leave the EU.
Plant health and biosecurity are two issues that feature highly on the Ornamental Roundtable’s agenda. The group - chaired by RHS Director General, Sue Biggs, and attended by Defra Minister George Eustice, alongside representatives from government, AHDB and the wider ornamental industry - brings the sector together to unite and tackle issues and policies of common interest to horticulturalists.
Best of British
The sound of ecstatic cheers draws us to the Flowers From the Farm (FFF) exhibit, which, on its first appearance at Chelsea has won a coveted gold award. FFF is a nationwide consortium of almost 500 members supplying the public with a diverse and seasonal range of British blooms.
The gold award is all the sweeter as, unlike most stands at the show, FFF has no sponsor. All the flowers on the stand were donated by its members, and Simon Lycett loaned his workspace to the team to assist in the preparation of the display.
Gill Hodgson, of Fieldhouse Flowers and part of the Chelsea exhibiting team, tells me that they had no idea what flowers to expect until they arrived at the show. It’s even more reason to be impressed by the cooperative’s show success. It’s a public platform to promote British grown flowers in an industry where 90% of the cut flowers we buy are imported.
The iconic British Oak
Also exhibiting in The Great Pavilion is Action Oak. The mighty oak is facing a fight for survival against pests and diseases that threaten to devastate the UK’s 121 million oak population.
The exhibit, designed by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and sponsored by Defra, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission, promotes better understanding of the importance of this iconic British tree and the threats it faces.
From grey squirrel damage, to the invasion of the Oak Processionary Moth and promoting good biosecurity, the campaign aims to raise vital funds for further research to help inform our management and protection of oak trees for generations to come.
Lord Gardiner, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity, attended the launch of the campaign on Chelsea’s opening day and is among several high profile political figures championing the cause.
Horticulture and the nation’s health
We finish up our tour at the RHS Feel Good Garden, designed to capture the positive impact that green spaces have on our health and wellbeing. It’s one of the many ‘public goods’ that horticulture delivers, but which is hard to quantify.
Research by Treeconomics recently valued the trees in Hyde Park as having an amenity asset value of a staggering £173 million. Research that ascribes a monetary value to our green spaces helps the sector position itself to government as a sector that should be supported in its delivery of public goods.
I’m not sure you can make a more impactful case to political influencers on the value of horticulture to the nation’s health and wellbeing, the importance of provenance, plant health, and biosecurity than you can at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Discussing these priorities before the show gates open offers us the full attention of the people who can influence the policies and purse strings. The seeds may be sown, but the action needs to continue long after the gates shut.