BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair is back at Beaulieu
Company: BBC Gardeners’ World
Warm, sunny days have been ordered as the countdown begins to this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair. This annual celebration of seasonal gardening, growing, food and drink returns to Beaulieu, the New Forest home of the National Motor Museum, from 2 – 4 May 2025. Keen gardeners, aspiring good-lifers, food lovers and holidaymakers alike flock to Beaulieu in their thousands for garden inspiration and ideas to take home, new plants, tasty food and drink, and a great day out.
There’s a bumper crop of new surprises to mark the popular event’s fifth anniversary. Headline sponsor Hillier’s large, woodland-themed feature garden takes centre stage and is sure to inspire. A colourful herbaceous display sets the scene, with stepping stones leading through soft pastel planting to a sun-drenched gravel garden and stream. Moving into cool shade, the garden transitions into a woodland display with tall tree ferns, deep greenery and mature trees. The Hillier Experience offers plant information a-plenty, 1:1 advice pods, a large shop and new plant launches. Charles Carr, Hillier’s Head of Wholesale Nurseries, will be sharing expert plant advice at the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage and Subscriber Club Lounge.
The BBC Gardeners’ World campaign for 2025 is Make a Metre Matter. Supported by BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World TV series, the Magazine, events and digital platforms, Make a Metre Matter encourages gardeners to transform a metre of outdoor space to support wildlife, biodiversity and edible plants. Multi award-winning garden designer, Pip Probert, from BBC 2 Your Garden Made Perfect will create an exciting collection of metres for the Spring Fair, all designed to inspire visitors to make their own small but meaningful changes for the good of the planet. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine launches Make a Metre Matter in March, featuring creative ideas for planet-friendly metres in its spring and summer editions. Gardeners across the UK are invited to join the campaign by creating their own special metres and sharing their designs. A selection will feature in a special edition of BBC Gardeners’ World on 13 June, recorded at BBC Gardeners’ World Live at the NEC Birmingham.
New for 2025 is The Spring Table, an eye-catching space for seasonal food, drink and tablescaping inspiration, hosted by BBC food broadcaster, Chris Bavin. Luke Holder, chef director at the New Forest’s five-star Lime Wood Hotel will be sharing delicious, no-cook dishes. Mixologists from The Pig will be preparing plant-based tipples at ‘make and taste’ cocktail masterclasses. Mushroom-growing experts, Lorraine and Jodie Caley from Caley Brothers, will be showing how to make pickled mushrooms for a delicious addition to antipasti platters or charcuterie boards. Floral designer, Jordan Weston (The Bearded Botanist), will be introducing the elegant art of Ikebana flower arranging. Pre-book an exclusive seat or drop by to watch and learn.
Carol Klein will make her Spring Fair debut this year. The BBC Gardeners’ World presenter will be live at the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage on Saturday and Sunday, sharing seasonal gardening advice and chatting about the Make a Metre Matter campaign with the Magazine’s editors. Adam Frost will be Friday’s guest presenter and Arit Anderson joins the fun on Saturday. Adam Frost, Carol Klein and Spring Fair Plant Expert, Lucy Chamberlain, will be signing copies of their books each day.
There’s more garden gossip to be had at the exciting new ‘In Conversation With’ Stage sponsored by egg, Cracking Energy, hosted by garden podcaster and writer, Adam Kirtland (@viewfromthepottingbench). This informal, drop-in stage features a daily programme of relaxed chats with acclaimed horticulturalists and gardening personalities. Guests including August Bernstein (The Raymond Blanc Gardening School), Jason Williams (Cloud Gardener UK) and Kelly-Jane Leach (@dirtygardgarden.with.kimenhoe) who will be discussing life in and out of the garden. The ‘In Conversation With’ Stage is surrounded by the Spring Fair’s inspiring show gardens, plants and specialist nurseries.
For visitors wanting to get hands-on, learn something new or develop their skills, there’s a packed daily programme of hands-on workshops. New additions this year are Willow weaving workshops and Forging demonstrations with Dingle Forge, plus the ever-popular Spring Bouquet Floristry with award-winning flower farmer, Kim O’Brien (@garden.with.kim) and Mushroom Growing Masterclasses with Caley Brothers. All workshops are bookable. Spring floristry fans will also find free, daily tablescaping demonstrations at Beaulieu’s Palace House.
This year’s new Arena highlights are the New Forest Tractor and Engine Club’s collection of vintage Land Rovers, tractors and mini steam engines, and the Beaulieu-based Countryside Education Trust, celebrating its 50th anniversary with coppicing workshops and some four-legged friends. For younger visitors, there are daily falconry displays on the Palace House lawn, and the Little Beaulieu adventure playground, Monorail Skytrain and woodland walks to explore.
With its impressive Showcase Gardens, College Gardens and Beautiful Borders, the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair is bursting with achievable ideas for outdoor spaces big and small. The Showcase Gardens include The Lighthouse Community Garden designed by Poole-based Matt Evans from The Garden Room Living & Landscape Design Studio, in association with Elliots. This coastal garden represents Lighthouse Poole, a multi arts venue that nurtures the creative arts and culture. The garden features a symbolic lighthouse, an important pillar of the local community, acting as a guiding light through good times and bad. Salisbury-based designer David Long’s creation, From Darkness to Daylight, portrays a journey of imposter syndrome, from self-doubt to being ‘good enough’.
In an extended College Gardens competition, students from Capel Manor, Kingston Maurward, Merrist Wood and Plumpton Colleges, mentored by award-winning garden designer Cherry Carmen, will create budget-friendly gardens inspired by the theme of ‘Nature’s Art within the Garden’. If you’re keen to give your own garden a makeover but don’t know where to start, the Association of Professional Landscapers’ Landscaping and Design Drop-In Clinic offers expert garden design advice.
Throughout the weekend, Spring Fair Plant Experts Lucy Chamberlain, Saul Walker, Bob Sweet and Beaulieu Head Gardener, Kelvin Yapp, will be hosting guided tours of Beaulieu’s Victorian Walled Kitchen Gardens and Ornamental Gardens (bookable). There are drop-in tours of the Abbey Cloisters Herb Garden with the Beaulieu garden team too.
The Spring Fair’s Beautiful Borders competition features a collection of mini show gardens by local garden designers, charities and community groups. The competition is designed to spark ideas for small gardens and tricky spaces, with every entry packed with clever design features, colour and planting. This year’s creative theme is ‘Cultivating Connections’, inspired by the power of garden spaces, no matter how small, to foster meaningful connections of all kinds.
The Living Well Garden by Totton-based Kate Pomeroy for the charity Diabetes UK explores how thoughtful design can cultivate health, balance, and vitality for managing diabetes. Flori’s Garden by Becky Hall from Norwich-based Bumble Bee Gardening is a place of calm and connection for three-year-old Florence, who lives with severe neurodevelopmental difficulties, and her family. The Time Together Garden by Headley Dad, Jonny Coller and eight-year-old son, Inigo, from Floreat Garden Design, represents the unique ability of gardens to bring different generations of a family together and forge strong bonds across ages. There are further Borders by Minstead Trust, a New Forest charity supporting people with learning disabilities and autism, and Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Romsey.
Don’t forget your shopping list! There are plants a-plenty at every turn with over 30 specialist plant nurseries and growers to browse and buy from, plus more than 100 retailers selling high-quality garden accessories, furniture, tools, equipment and garden décor. For hands-free plant shopping, volunteers from Maggie’s Cancer Care in Southampton will be hosting a Plant Crèche and Wheelbarrow Porter Service. Donations welcome!
Packed with seasonal flavours, the Good Food Market brings together a wide array of artisan food and drink producers offering tempting treats to taste, buy and take home, street food vendors and live bandstand entertainment. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscribers and Hillier Gardening Club members can enjoy the exclusive Club Lounge, featuring daily talks by the Magazine’s editors with special guests, a Hillier 1:1 plant advice pod, refreshments and additional seating. Access is subject to capacity, with seating available on a first come, first served basis. There’s an additional VIP Lounge for VIP Extra ticket holders.
Lucy Tremlett, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World events, said: “Beaulieu is a wonderful location and we’re really looking forward to celebrating the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair’s fifth birthday there in May. Visitors can look forward to exciting new highlights along with the impressive Hillier Experience and much-loved Showcase Gardens, College Gardens and Beautiful Borders. We’re mad about gardening and growing, and it gives us real joy to see visitors laden with plants for their exciting spring and summer gardening projects. With its beautiful backdrop, inspiring gardens, expert advice, fun workshops and more, we’ve got everything you need for a great spring day out – not forgetting great food, drink and live music too!”
Rachael Goldstraw, Head of Marketing & Business Development at Beaulieu Enterprises, said: “What a pleasure to be welcoming the wonderful BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair and its green-fingered visitors back to Beaulieu for this very special year. From non-gardeners and beginners to experienced experts, there’s always a real buzz with so much to see, do, buy and take home, plus all of Beaulieu’s many attractions to enjoy too. So come along and admire the gardens, soak up the atmosphere and spend the day with us!”
Tickets for the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair 2025 are on sale now at www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com. Prices are from £17.00 and include access to Beaulieu’s extensive grounds, gardens and attractions, like the National Motor Museum and Palace House. Well-behaved dogs on leads welcome in the outdoor areas.
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