Inside the new RHS Urban show – with budget-friendly balcony garden tips, Tinie Tempah and 5 reasons why it’s cooler than Chelsea

MOVE over Chelsea, there’s a new show in town.

And this one is perfect for everyone’s budget.

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Forget the tree-lined avenues of elegant people drinking champagne on the banks of the Thames, the RHS Urban show takes place completely undercover in a huge old railway station in the center of Manchester.

And while the spirit is still the same, this new show is about stylish gardening on porches, windowsills, planters, and patios, with a heavy emphasis on saving money.

While tickets to the Chelsea Flower Show can cost almost £100 and sell out months in advance, the Urban Shows cost a much higher £17.85 on the door.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the city’s four-day event, which opened Thursday with the overarching goal of making gardening accessible to everyone.

And although Chelsea is now home to the red trouser brigade – who see it as part of the summer season taking place at Ascot, Wimbledon and Glyndebourne – the RHS Urban show is attracting a different kind of audience.

Rapper Tinie Tempah, who spoke at the show, said: “I grew up on the 17th floor of a concrete block of flats on an estate in south-east London – we were lucky if we saw a tree.

“But as I grew up, I learned to appreciate how nature can enhance our creativity.”

The Grime star, 35, revealed she recently renovated an unused area in Hackney with the TV garden designer Tom Massey to create a green city oasis.

Tinie added: “As someone who grew up in an urban environment and is now a parent, I know how important it is to immerse yourself in the outdoors.

“I certainly never thought I’d be sitting here talking about all this. But it’s very important.”

While Chelsea boasts 23 acres of lush green space, Depot Mayfield is housed in a historic former train station.

And while London’s exhibition grounds are home to around 300 Chelsea pensioners, the Mayfield Depot regularly hosts the famous Warehouse Project, where thousands of people rave to dance music until dawn.

Teacher Ben Toogood, who runs a gardening club at his school, used to attend raves at the same location back in the day.

He said: “Times change. Now I came here to be inspired – both for our little garden at home and for what I do with the school garden. It’s fantastic that the show has come to Manchester, it’s about time we had something like this.”

One of the main goals of the show is to inspire city dwellers of all ages with a range of ideas to take home.

Gardening doesn’t stop outside the M25

Tony LeBritton

Garden designer Jason Williams, aka Cloud Gardenerlives on the 18th floor of a block of flats in Deansgate, Manchester.

He was presenting a series of different balcony situations that he created with the Plant Cooperative – a non-profit urban gardening collective based in the city.

Each was created on a limited budget and faced the problems associated with exposure to the North, South, East, or West.

For a balcony he worked with students from Manchester Met University who had signed up to an extracurricular gardening club and worked with him and Ascend to create a £500 balcony.

Student Adam Charlsworth, 20, who was studying illustration, said: “Living in an urban area you often feel disconnected from nature, so it was great to work on this. I didn’t even know what RHS was before I joined the Rise scheme, it taught us so much.”

Already arewho started gardening in lockdown and with more than 50,000 followers on social media, said: “Manchester was one of the first industrial cities in the world, so it’s really incredible that the show has come here.

“Almost 80% of people live in an urban environment, so it makes sense that there is something for them too.

“One of my biggest pieces of advice for those growing on balconies is to check with your developers how much weight your balcony can support, this is very important.

“Luckily mine is an extension of the kitchen, so it can support a heavy load.

“So you need to grow the right type of plants for your space, but also be aware of different microclimates. It’s exposed and very windy.”

Eighteen floors up means temperatures are warmer and there are no insects, so he had to introduce his own for ecodiversity.

Now he grows his own tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, all kinds of fruits and even has a lake.

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‘Chelsea flu’ is a known problem at the May parade – and with endless flower displays and even a floral marquee, guests have been known to take a cheeky antihistamine before tackling the count of pollens.

But the RHS Urban program has none of these problems.

Instead, there’s a strong focus on houseplants, moss, fungi, vertical planting, herbs, workshops on how to make your own terrariums – and even a talk on how to balance plant life with home and family life.

There are arguments about growing in awkward urban spaces, why Alpines are great for small gardens, an urban forest experiment, a robot dog used for farming, garage gardening, and advice on sustainable paving solutions.

There’s even a display of low-light-tolerant houseplants and another of plants grown in milk cartons and old crusty buckets.

Houseplant specialist Tony LeBritton told The Sun: “Gardening doesn’t stop outside the M25, it’s great that the RHS has bought the gig here.”

When it comes to dining at Chelsea, visitors can enjoy a five-course deluxe dining experience, a seafood and oyster bar, or a floral-inspired champagne afternoon tea at the Dorchester hotel.

While Manchester offers Caribbean, Vietnamese and Japanese dishes, as well as wood-fired pizza and fish and chips – which can be accompanied by a cheeky cocktail from To chase cocktail bar – including Tinie Tempah’s own rhubarb mix. All for less than ten dollars.

And while Chelsea visitors sit on the lawn listening to brass bands and string quartets, the Urban show features live music from local artists playing in a recreated pub garden – creating a true festival feel.

Helena Pettit, Director of Gardens and Shows, said: “In recent years there has been a real boom in gardening and we believe that more young people living in cities are now growing plants.

“So we are very excited to bring a new RHS Program dedicated to urban gardening in central Manchester.

“The goal is to bring gardening to a new audience and demonstrate that if you have plants, you are a gardener.

“There’s already a lot of great work happening across the city to make it greener and we’re excited to help support this growing movement.

“We want even more people living in one of the UK’s biggest cities to be inspired to grow plants and connect with the natural world.”

Gardening presenter and main stage host Michael Perry aka Mr Plant Geektold The Sun: “It’s so exciting to have something from the RHS actually on the map in the heart of a city, it’s such a unique environment that even the space makes you think about how to use urban areas.

“It’s fantastic that they’ve thought a lot more about the budget and how people garden in different ways – you might just have a window box or a shared garden, we don’t all have beautiful landscaped gardens with three beds. They are realizing this and giving everyone the potential to grow.”

RHS Regular Anne Akers, 64, from Leeds, added: “I’m here for inspiration, it’s great that the RHS has an exhibition in Manchester – and great that it’s focused on real people with real gardening problems.”

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