The RHS Malvern Spring Festival is a treasure trove of inspiration for gardeners. With its stunning show gardens, expert advice, and innovative planting ideas, it offers countless ways to transform your own outdoor space. Whether you have a sprawling country garden or a compact urban retreat, the principles showcased at Malvern can be adapted to suit your needs.

Bringing Show Garden Ideas Home

One of the most exciting aspects of the festival is the Show Gardens, where designers push the boundaries of creativity and sustainability. While these gardens are often grand in scale, their core ideas can be translated into smaller, more personal spaces.

Here’s how you can incorporate some of the standout themes from Malvern into your own garden:

Layered Planting for Year-Round Interest

Many of the gardens at Malvern feature tiered planting, combining trees, shrubs, perennials, and ground cover to create depth and texture.

To achieve this in your own garden, start with structural plants like small trees or shrubs for seasonal colour. Such as this Cornus ‘Stardust’ which has beautiful white bracts and will grow to around 4m tall and 5m wide when it has matured.

Incorporate perennials and ground cover to fill gaps and provide continuous interest. Plants such as Geums and Heuchera make a lovely combination and go well with the Cornus.

Sustainable Gardening Practices

Sustainability is a key theme at Malvern and all RHS shows, with many gardens showcasing eco-friendly techniques. You can adopt these practices by:

• Using reclaimed materials for pathways and seating.
• Installing a rain garden to manage water runoff.
• Choosing native plants that support local wildlife and require less maintenance.

Red Campion is a wildflower and was used extensively throughout the show.

The Biosis garden used a lot of these throughout and I loved the way they captured rainwater from the green roof of the ‘bee wing’ inspired pergola and filtering it through a blackthorn tower into a wildlife pond.

Creating a Tranquil Retreat

Several gardens at Malvern focus on well-being and relaxation, incorporating elements that encourage mindfulness and connection with nature. To bring this into your own space:

Introduce seating areas surrounded by calming plants like Lavender for sunny gardens and ferns for shady spaces.

Use water features to add soothing sounds and designate a quiet corner for reading, meditation, or simply enjoying the outdoors. The Rain Garden had a lovely garden room that was ideal for this and I could imagine being inside with big comfy cushions and listening to the water bubbling away in the background.

Adapting Malvern’s Themes to Different Garden Sizes

Not everyone has the luxury of a large garden, but the ideas from Malvern can be scaled to fit any space.

Small Gardens & Courtyards

• If you have a compact garden, focus on vertical planting and multi-functional spaces.
• Use climbing plants like clematis to add greenery without taking up ground space.
• Opt for raised beds to maximize planting areas.
• Incorporate foldable furniture to create flexible seating options.

In the Hierarchy of Plants garden, large planters were used for lush foliage. These could easily be replicated at home along with some screening that could be purchased ‘ready made’ or built at home using wooden battens and then painted with a colour of your choice. There are plenty of colours and brands available for painting sheds, fences and outdoor furniture. I use Cuprinol Garden Shades for a lot of my projects.

Urban Gardens & Balconies

Even the smallest outdoor spaces can benefit from Malvern-inspired ideas:

• Grow herbs and vegetables in containers for a practical and beautiful display.
• Use mirrors to create the illusion of depth. However, be careful where they are placed as they can confuse birds who may fly into the mirror and damage it and hurt themselves too.
• Choose pollinator-friendly plants to support biodiversity in city environments. There were lots of ‘green roofs’ used on pergolas and sheds.

The Wind Garden used Thyme as it has a pretty pink flower, and the leaves can be used for culinary purposes. Its a good plant to use in a sensory garden and is also loved by dogs! It looks really lovely underplanted by the Irises and boulder.

Making Your Garden a Personal Haven

Ultimately, the best gardens are those that reflect the personality and needs of their owners. Whether you’re drawn to the structured elegance of formal gardens or the wild beauty of naturalistic planting, the RHS Malvern Spring Festival offers endless inspiration. By adapting its principles to your own space, you can create a garden that is not only beautiful but also sustainable, functional, and deeply personal.

If you would like help with your garden borders and to create the WOW factor, send a message to hello@borderinabox.com and I would be delighted to help.