Sophisticated gardening; Helen and Katy visit GROW London

Written by Helen Trimm at Now.

Looking for an authentic Indian tepee for your garden? Or maybe a stylish new window box for your flat? Then GROW London Festival is the place to go.

The contemporary garden fayre, which launched last year, claims to be “London’s alternative garden show” and celebrates all things modern, innovative and beautifully designed in the world of gardening.

As Wyevale Garden Centres is similarly on a mission to get the nation thinking differently about gardens and gardening, Katy and I thought we’d better go and check it out.

Unlike more traditional garden shows like Hampton Court or Chelsea, there were no perfectly manicured show gardens at GROW, or judges walking around with clipboards. Instead we found a marquee jam-packed with hundreds of exhibitors showing everything from seed bombs and stripy hammocks, to upside down hanging planters and living walls.

Although, sadly, we left empty handed – we decided that we couldn’t quite make it back to the office on the Northern line with a monkey tree – we left feeling inspired by the amount of modern, beautiful products we’d seen that really proves gardening is not just all about hedges, pansies and hard work!