More women gardeners than men at Chelsea Flower Show

For the first time in memory, women gardeners will outnumber men at the Chelsea Flower Show.

The event, formerly known as the Great Spring Show, sets the stage for those at the highest level of horticulture in the battle to become a prize-winning garden designer.

This year female gardeners will make up 58 per cent of designers, putting men in the minority for the first time.

In 2010 women made up just 31 per cent of designers.

It comes as a special instalment by Pollyanna Wilkinson, dedicated to the unsung achievements of female horticulturalists, is due to take centre stage at the show.

Novelist Vita Sackville-West, scientist Janaki Ammal, plantswoman Beth Chatto, and campaigner and botanical artist Margaret Mee will be recognised amongst others at The Monument.

The Royal Horticultural Society say the new “balcony and containers” category, introduced after lockdown, has contributed to the shift, having proved popular with women since the launch.

Celebrating inventiveness of gardening

It costs between £1,300 and £1,600 per square metre to display a garden at Chelsea.

The prestigious “show gardens” along Main Avenue can be as large as 10m by 22m, requiring generous support from sponsors who typically seek established designers, most of whom are male.

Balcony gardens must measure 5m by 2m, and container gardens are 4m by 3m.

Fiona Davison, head of libraries at the Royal Horticultural Society, said the balcony and containers category had allowed more women to climb the ranks, as they allow smaller costs while celebrating the inventiveness of gardening in small spaces.

Davison said this opens up the opportunity to a wider pool of designers who may be earlier on in their careers.

“The RHS is trying to break that [structural inequality] by giving a wider pool of people these stepping stones to build their reputation as garden designers.”

Female horticultural pioneers in the 19th and 20th-century, such as Gertrude Jekyll, Ellen Willmott and Marianne North tended to be wealthy, and therefore able to excel as amateurs.

However, the RHS national exam, introduced in 1893, provided a new entry point for women.

“They could then wave a bit of paper and say, ‘Look! I am good at this!’” said Davison, who has written a book about gardening pioneers entitled An Almost Impossible Thing.

However, at the turn of the century, Olive Harrisson came top in the principles of horticulture exams that year - but was barred from claiming her prize of a scholarship at the RHS due to being a woman.

Helena Pettit, director of gardens and shows at the RHS, said: “While all gardens are selected on the basis of their designs rather than who the designer is, we are delighted that this category has resulted in more women designers.

“We hope seeing these women create beautiful gardens at the world’s most famous flower show will inspire the next generation of female designers to pursue a career in horticulture.

“A celebration of ‘Women in Horticulture’ will also be at the heart of the Great Pavilion this year.”

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show takes place between May 23 to 27: rhs.org.uk