September Chelsea will be ‘fabulous’ says Sarah Eberle

Since it began in 1913, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show has always been held in May, when the gardening year gets underway. Now, due to the pandemic, it’s being held in September for the first time. Sarah Eberle talks to Hazel Southam about the changes she’s made to the Psalm 23 Garden, and what plants will work in our gardens at home.

Hazel Southam – How do you feel about creating a garden for September? 

Sarah Eberle – It’s a fabulous opportunity. September is my favourite month anyway. There’s something special about the light. The sun is lower and that will play with the garden making it quite stunning, magnifying it. 

It’s nice to work with a different range of plants. Surprisingly, when the growers, Kelways, and I reviewed the plants, we decided that the garden would actually be better in September, so we had quite limited changes. 

HS – Why does the Psalm 23 Garden lend itself to September? 

SE – The garden is soothing. It has a restorative feel. That’s been achieved by making it highly textural. It was never intended to have riots of colour. The shade-loving plants for May such as foxgloves and aquilegias have been replaced by Aster divaricatus, which Monty Don raves about on Gardeners’ World, and two eupatoriums, a white one and a pink one. We’ve got some fabulous additional plants. 

HS – Which plants do you think will be the stars?

SE – Every time I predict the stars for a garden, I’m wrong. But I guess it will be the eupatoriums, Lucky Melody and maculateum. If you have a damp area of garden, they would be fantastic. And, if we can keep the heads on the cotton grass, that will fascinate people and grab their imagination. 

HS – The revised design features four trees, double the original plan. Can you reveal what we’ll be seeing? 

SE – I haven’t finalised that yet. Twice when I’ve planned to visit the trees, it’s been pouring with rain! The two trees I can tell you about are a multi-stemmed hornbeam and a half-standard hawthorn. 

I need something that’s small for the front of the garden that frames the view. I’m willing to be persuaded. I’ll see my first-choice trees and then I’ll have a look around and be prepared to be delighted by something. 

HS – The Psalm 23 Garden features naturalistic planting. What can people grow at home? 

SE – Most of the plants could be grown at home, as they are British natives, such as heathers and native grasses. I think it will help people to understand the idea of naturalistic planting.

But every plant, when it’s in its right place, will look and feel good. That’s like us really. We flourish when we are doing something that we love, too.

Full plant list still to come!