Competition to find best homegrown ‘Chelsea garden’ efforts amid lockdown

Amateur gardeners are being urged to show off their efforts by entering a competition to find the best homegrown gardens and plant displays.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and the BBC’s The One Show are joining forces for the My Chelsea Garden contest, asking green-fingered householders across the UK to submit images of their green spaces and growing efforts at home.

The competition comes after the coronavirus crisis forced the RHS’s Chelsea Flower Show to be cancelled and replaced with online content.

The RHS and The One Show are also encouraging people to post images of plants and gardens on social media with the hashtag #mychelseagarden to provide inspiration and respite for others during the lockdown.

The My Chelsea Garden competition will be judged in four categories: back garden; front garden; indoor garden, featuring houseplants, window sills and balconies; and kids’ corner garden.

As part of the competition, people are also being asked to share how their gardens are helping them through the lockdown.

One winner from each of the My Chelsea Garden categories will receive four tickets for the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021 and a special RHS award commending their garden.

The competition is being judged by One Show presenter Alex Jones, TV gardener Monty Don, RHS head of shows judging James Alexander Sinclair and Sue Biggs, RHS director general.

Ms Jones said: “From window boxes and balconies to the more traditional outside space, I can’t wait to hear how growing and planting has been helping people get through this extraordinary time and am excited to see the results of everyone’s creative efforts.”

Ms Biggs said: “Plants, gardening and the natural world has never been so important to us.

“At the RHS we are acutely aware of the benefits that gardening and nurturing plants can have on our mental health and wellbeing.

“This competition with The One Show is a great way to encourage people to garden and grow and also reward some tremendous efforts and amazing indoor and outdoor gardens across the UK.”

To find out more about the competition, and what they have to do to enter, people can visit bbc.co.uk/theoneshow