What better way to spend a summer weekend than at a gardening show? You can buy plants from specialist nurseries, admire show gardens created by top designers, get advice from growers, and generally have a relaxing time. That's the experience visitors will be hoping for at this year's Gardening Scotland, but are things quite so relaxed behind the scenes?
"This year, with the credit crunch, we were panicking that we would lose exhibitors," says show manager Jim Jermyn. "In fact we've got about the same number of exhibitors as last year and we actually have more show gardens. The mood is very good."
Jermyn says that there's a feeling in the industry that more Scots will be staying at home this summer, rather than travelling abroad, so there is every chance that they will be spending their spare time in the garden. The Big Back Garden area of Gardening Scotland has been designed with families and novice gardeners in mind and has plenty of suggestions for how to spend the summer months outdoors. If you don't know Latin plant names or the principles of garden design, it won't be a problem in this welcoming area.
The centrepiece is the Earthy Green Garden and Pete Jackson of Edinburgh's Earthy Food Market is co-ordinating the space. "It's all about eco know-how," he says. "We want to promote what the back garden can and should be used for, with an environmental message attached. You can find out how to compost your garden waste, keep chickens and how to make a raised bed. It's also about thrifty gardening for when times are hard."
Exhibitors who'll be joining in with the Earthy Green Garden include the Edinburgh Community Backgreens Association, who offer advice to people living in tenement flats who want to work together to develop their shared garden space. Fairlie Organic Growers will be making raised beds, the Cyrenians charity will be using plant ingredients to make lip balm, there'll be garden furniture made from storm-damaged timber and lots of demonstrations, from barbecue cooking to gardening on a budget. Bikes salvaged from Edinburgh skips, picnic tables and storytelling in a yurt all make for a laid-back, family-friendly area, with plenty of opportunities to learn. "I want people to come away from it thinking 'I'm going to try that at home,'" says Jackson.
Another area of the show which has proved popular with young people is the Pallet Garden Challenge. This competition is based on one-metre square gardens which fire the imaginations of young and older gardeners alike, resulting in some inspiring designs. "It's amazing what they come up with," says Jermyn. "There are going to be about 60 Pallet Gardens this year and it's been a fantastic way to get schools and amateur gardening societies involved with the show." These mini gardens come packed with colour, flowers and even vegetables. St Crispin's Special Needs School will be showing off an "I had a little nut tree" garden, featuring a contorted hazel tree and a medieval knot garden. Colinton Primary School are opting for a fairy tale theme while Newlands Primary School's garden uses the theme of Scotland's Homecoming celebrations.
From tiny gardens to the full-blown ones, this year sees more colleges turning sketched designs to life. "Just when people think there isn't so much of an uptake of school-leavers and students going into horticulture, we've got more colleges involved than ever," says Jermyn. One such exhibit is the Whisky Galore Garden, designed by Ruth Veitch, a second-year garden design student at the Scottish Agricultural College in Edinburgh.
It was announced late last year that her design had been chosen for the show, and since then she's been working hard with three fellow students, getting things ready. "We have the plants in the greenhouse at the moment – we've grown some from seed and potted them up and it's a case of keeping an eye on them at this stage," she says. "As you can imagine, it's quite tricky to time it right for the show, so we've been moving the plants in and out of warm greenhouses to push them on or hold them back. We're hoping it all comes together at the last minute."
Veitch says the inspiration for the garden came from holidays to Islay and other west coast islands, as well as her boyfriend's collection of old whisky bottles. She describes the design as "a twist on a seaside garden" and sponsorship from Morrison Bowmore means she's acquired a whisky barrel to use as a table and some empty bottles to hide in the sand. Thirty plants tolerant of coastal conditions have been chosen, including sea holly, sea kale, thrift, phormiums, grasses and irises. "Hopefully it'll give people an idea of what will survive," says Veitch. "The wind is the main thing in a coastal garden, as well as the sea spray, so these plants are going to be pretty hardy."
Other show gardens include Plantform's Give Peace a Chance space, featuring Japanese maples and red poppies. The horticultural charity Perennial is entering a show garden designed around a Morris Minor that is being planted up; Primo Landscaping has gone for a country garden theme with red roses, a veg plot and a stream, while Heath Brown of BTCV is creating a huge labyrinth called The Pathway to Life, with vegetables, sensory plants and silver birch trees.
Then there's the floral hall – Scotland's biggest plant sale, with numerous specialist growers, many of whom are Chelsea medal-winners. New floral exhibitors this year include Chrysanthemums Direct, Culdees Nursery, Just Airplants and Taylors Hebes.
As part of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society's 200th anniversary celebrations, the society's patron, Princess Anne, will visit on Friday afternoon. Add to this the Living Garden, showcasing environmental organisations like Buglife and RBGE, the Worldskills UK Landscape Gardening Competition and the Beechgrove Garden Theatre and it's clear that Gardening Scotland's tenth birthday will be a weekend to remember.
• Gardening Scotland (0131-333 0965, www.gardeningscotland.com), 29-31 May, Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston. Tickets, £14 Friday, £12 Sat/Sun; children under 16 go free when accompanied by an adult.
