Behind the Scenes of Our Potting Bench Demo – RHS Virtual Chelsea 2020

For almost a decade Malvern Garden Buildings have brought the garden studios to the plateau in Ranelagh Gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

On a decidedly frosty November morning last year we pitched ideas to the management team for Malvern Garden Buildings’ exhibit for 2020.

We’d had news that the RHS intended to bring Houseplant Studios to what was previously the Artisan Area and we were excited at the prospect of greening up one of our garden studios.

Malvern Garden Buildings x Ian Drummond

To bring our vision to life we knew we needed to partner with an indoor plant specialist. We were absolutely delighted when Ian Drummond, Creative Director of Indoor Garden Design and lifelong houseplant obsessive accepted our invitation to collaborate.

Ian has created indoor plantscapes for Fashion Week, the BAFTAs and Elton John. So, you can imagine how thrilled we were to share his show stopping design with visitors at this year’s flower show.

The virus had other plans. We’ll all have to wait until 2021 when hopefully life is more normal to savour that moment.

The Idea

We’d heard about the work Indoor Garden Design has been doing with Project Wingman. This project aims to give back to frontline NHS workers during the COVID-19 crisis by providing ‘First Class Lounges’ in hospitals. Here doctors, nurses and other key workers can be looked after during their shifts by furloughed, grounded and recently redundant airline crew. Indoor Garden Design has provided greenery to dress these spaces, bringing with them their own list of benefits.

This inspired the idea of transforming an outdoor retreat into an indoor garden to unwind, relax and decompress in these challenging times.

The Building

We chose the Hanley Heritage garden building for the shoot. We knew a lush interior would contrast beautifully with the industrial Crittall style doors and windows. Widely used as a garden office for working from home, this building is the ideal place to escape from the stresses of the outside world.

On the day of filming we captured the transformation from blank canvas of a garden building to immersive indoor jungle. Different heights of planting and foliage textures created a plant-filled wobble room where we’d all love to spend some down time.

The Result

In total over 75 houseplants were used to complete the look. On camera Ian skilfully talks us through the key indoor plants and explains why they were chosen and how to care for them.

Virtual Chelsea will feature daily videos of world-leading designers, plant experts and practical gardening advice. The RHS website will feature all of the footage , with new content available to stream every day 18th – 23rd May.

We hope our contribution to the virtual show will help fill the gap caused by the sad but necessary cancellation of this year’s show and will inspire more people to take up indoor gardening.

For further inspiration and houseplant ideas see Your Lockdown Guie to Indoor Gardens.

The Timeline

10^th March                 Artist impression of 2020 stand shared with RHS. Discussions in full swing with the factory about the design of the garden studio.
17^th March                 Chelsea Flower Show cancelled for the first time since the Second World War
23^rd March                 Sue Biggs, RHS Director General posts open letter announcing plans for a virtual show
14^th April                    RHS invite exhibitors to apply if they wish to participate
17^th April                    RHS plans to hold a virtual RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May due to the spread of coronavirus start making the headlines
21^st April                    Submitted our plans for Virtual Chelsea
1^st May                        Receive news we’ve been accepted for Virtual Chelsea and the deadline for our video content is in 7 days!
4^th May                        Ian Drummond confirms availability of plant stock and means of transport
6^th May                        Filming Day at Buckingham showsite with minimal crew adhering to social distancing rules.
8^th May                        Deadline day
18^th May                      Virtual Chelsea – Press Day
19^th May                      The video is shared on the RHS website