There were some interesting new ideas for our gardens at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025.
It’s always a very relatable show, with a relaxed, friendly feel to it.
And there were some particularly beautiful show gardens this year, especially Nick Bailey’s ‘Make a Metre Matter’ garden.
So which five looks would you want to try in your garden? Here goes:
Burnt wood at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025
Burnt wood was a big theme at the show. I can’t help thinking that we are all being sub-consciously influenced by the wildfires around the world.
But this burnt wood gives a lovely dark natural hue.
These burnt wood frames in the Make A Metre Matter show garden by Nick Bailey are a pergola and a frame for anti-pest netting respectively. Nick says that the inspiration for the pergola was a burnt-out barn he passes when he drives to work.
This is a clever way of dealing with pests. Nick Bailey has created a burnt wood frame that looks good as a free-standing element in the garden, but when the time comes to protect the brassicas with netting, you can simply throw the mesh over it. An elegant solution to a practical problem.
Burnt wood was also seen as an ornament or sculpture in its own right, as in this ‘Putting Down Roots’ border by Victoria Benjamin.
Black stain indicates a seating area in Anita Rose’s One to Three Border, with its upright black wooden markers adding vertical interest.
A charming garden with burnt wood decking by Carleen Osborne. This ‘Just a Garden’ was made entirely by Carleen and her husband. The screening is made from old roof battens and the decking is ‘burnt’ scaffolding boards. The planting on one side is shady and the other has sun-loving plants, to reflect the reality of our gardens.
Black, dark or partly black sheds
The black sheds are extension of the black wood theme. There were several black or dark wooden sheds at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025.
2050 by The Botanical Gardener, with its dark grey wooden shed, was a very pretty garden. It’s planted with resilient plants and succulents in what would have been a fountain because water may be very scarce by 2050.
The Midlands Air Ambulance Garden Medicinal Garden by Lucy Chapman and Helen Swann, built by Rupert Keys has a stylish part dark, part natural wooden garden room. Note the raised mound, which in some ways is taking over from the raised bed. It gives you a chance to appreciate plants at a good height.
An interesting twist on a greenhouse on the Nectary show garden at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025. Designer Kate Patrick has used a black frame and has also incorporated stained glass windows in it.
Natural materials – wood, wicker, plant-based materials
Nick Bailey’s ‘Make a Metre Matter’ show garden was entirely based on plant-based material. Even the anti-insect mesh was made from sweetcorn. And his garden furniture was wicker.
But this wasn’t the only show garden at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025 that majored on natural materials.
Plant based materials like willow and hessian make this gazebo on Nick Bailey’s Make a Metre Matter garden look rustic and comfortable. This was a very beautiful garden and full of ideas.
Reclaimed and natural – the wood and stone in the Vihara Meditation Garden by Sarah Coe. Note the low growing pine positioned as a punctuation point on the corner of the decking.
Ponds, ponds and water features
Almost all the show gardens and borders had a pond or a water feature. This reflects the growing importance of helping wildlife by having water in our garden.
Several gardens had more than one pond. ‘A Garden for All Weathers’ by August Ponds had both a natural, rock-lined stream and a contemporary raised bowl pond.
There were three or four ponds in Nick Bailey’s Make a Metre Matter garden.
Kitti Kovacs QVC garden had a waterfall tumbling down to a pond and a water feature. Note the low growing copper beech ball as a punctuation point – this beautiful plant has been included in many show gardens this year.
Natural-looking ponds, streams and waterfalls were big at BBC Gardeners World Live 2025. This is from the Vihara Meditation Garden.
Creating Connections – making friends with our foes by Deborah Mole has a small shallow bowl. The stones in it help wildlife drink – although it’s not a pond as such, so wildlife can’t live in it, it is still a help.
Raised beds go stylish
The raised bed has emerged from the humble veg patch and is now a style item. You can choose from bricks, stone, wood or rustic or go contemporary.
Raised beds in stone on the Wallace Line garden by Dave Hodson.
Striped raised beds on Nick Bailey’s garden: he alternated the burnt sleepers and the natural ones.
Pin to remember ideas for your garden from BBC Gardeners World Live 2025
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