Thousands visit BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at Beaulieu

THOUSANDS of growing enthusiasts visited the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair at Beaulieu.

The popular three-day event, which returned to the National Motor Museum, attracted around 20,000 visitors, who browsed an array of show gardens, cookery experiences and retail stalls.

Now in its fourth year, the pop-up horticultural attraction combined show gardens with advice from experts and dozens of design ideas.

Author and award-winning podcaster Ellen Mary hosted a new Get Growing Stage where well-known faces from the world of Grow Your Own shared top tips. These included Jason Williams, flower farmer Kim O’Brien, mushroom growers the Caley Brothers, and chefs from The Pig and Lime Wood hotels.

Also new for 2024 was the Plant Expert Workshop Marquee, where visitors were able to take part in a range of practical activities led by plant experts Lucy Chamberlain, Saul Walker and Rosy Hardy, founder of Hampshire-based nursery Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants.

Meanwhile, on the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage, special guests Frances Tophill, Adam Frost, Sue Kent and Rachel de Thame shared seasonal gardening advice.

Ahead of the launch on Friday, Gardeners’ World presenter Frances Tophill awarded a series of accolades to talented designers, landscaping teams and horticulture students for their stunning show gardens.

Best showcase garden and a platinum award were presented to award-winning landscape designer Matt Le Gassick, founder of Inbud, for The Inner Dancer. The garden was designed in partnership with Great Oaks School, a specialist secondary school in Southampton for young people with complex learning difficulties. It is now installed at the school as a permanent education and wellbeing space for students.

The compact Beautiful Borders contest challenged designers to make something beautiful in a small and challenging 9m2 space to reflect the theme Share My Space. The winners were Southampton-based garden designers Andrew Williamson and Laura Hall for Together, inspired by the space at Maggie’s cancer charity in Southampton.

Finally headline sponsor, Hillier, created a naturalistic woodland-themed feature garden, designed to complement the Spring Fair’s New Forest setting and inspire visitors to create their own pockets of woodland at home.

Highlights included bark paths, subtle shade-friendly planting including natural woodland plants like hellebores, ferns, foxgloves and primroses, long grassy borders and a canopy of large semi-mature trees.