A garden designer from Peppard has called it a “privilege” to work as an assessor at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Lynne Lambourne is no stranger to the star-studded annual London show, having also designed trade stand gardens at Chelsea for three years.
This is the second time Ms Lambourne has been an assessor, having been asked to participate last year.
She said: “They call it a trade stand assessor. I do the gardens associated with the trade stands and some of the trade stands too.
“Because I’d worked at Chelsea doing the gardens, the team asked me if I would like to join.
“I obviously know how to build a garden, what goes into a garden, and so they asked me if I would like to join the assessing team and of course, I was delighted, it’s quite a privilege.”
As part of her role, the 51-year-old was tasked with inspecting a list of competition entrants and speaking to the designers.
Ms Lambourne said: “We’ve got three of us in each team and we get a list of them that we’ve got to go and have a look at.
“There’s quite a strict kind of points system of what we have to look for and what they’re supposed to include and what they’re not allowed to include.
“[It’s] the creativity of each garden or stand, how they displayed everything and then we go round and mark them.
“At the end of that they get their certification points.
“Then they’re awarded either one gold star, two gold stars, three gold stars, four gold stars, five gold stars or best in show.”
On Monday last week, the day before the show opened to the public, Ms Lambourne joined fellow assessors to look around the gardens and trade stands. Despite the rainy weather, there were lots of “amazing” displays on show.
“I don’t judge on Main Avenue, but there are a lot of amazing ones.”
The Peppard designer also managed to see King Charles, David Beckham and celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh at their co-designed garden.
Ms Lambourne said Wallingford-based company Chiltern Seeds’ stand looked “absolutely beautiful” and received four gold stars.
She added: “There were lots of really innovative designs, lots of wildflower planting, that’s still really huge, and lots more vegetables and the growing your own food side of it, which is what I’m all about.
“That was all the way through the show, so that was nice. In fact, even on the King’s Garden, that’s what he’s done. He’s integrated vegetables and, of course, a gnome.”
Gnomes were permitted at the show for the first time this year.
Ms Lambourne is passionate about gardens and sustainability and is the founder of Warriors on Waste, organising paddleboard clean-ups of the River Thames in Henley.
She said: “I’m a sustainability ambassador for brands and all the content that I do on Instagram is about sustainability, gardening, saving the planet.”
She previously designed three gardens for German tool brand Gardena at the show.
The first focused on rewilding the planet and this was followed by another on the theme of “growing your own food and the joy that can bring”, and the third focused on passing information on to the next generation.
Instead of buying a new outfit to wear to the show, Ms Lambourne searched deep into her wardrobe and found a dress from the Seventies.
She said: “I actually wore it to my first ever Chelsea, to the party that we had in the evening in the garden.”
Ms Lambourne altered the neckline of the dress to modernise it.
Reflecting on being part of this year’s show, she added: “That whole week is the best week of my year, because gardeners are all such friendly people.
“The community is so strong. It’s not competitive at all.
“Everyone supports each other and it’s really lovely.
“I just feel lucky and pinch myself all the time.
“To be hobnobbing with all of the people that I admire so much… it’s a massive privilege.”
As part of her other ventures, Ms Lambourne is about to start work on a project to transform the garden at the Cherry Tree Inn in Stoke Row into a drop-in community garden for everyone.
She is also designing the interior and planting at a pop-up restaurant for Pavilion Foods and Orwells Restaurant which are joining forces next month for the Thameside Social event in Thames Side, Henley.
Ms Lambourne added she has also been asked to judge at the RHS Badminton Flower Show in July.
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