CBBC Newsround presenter and allotmenteer, De-Graft Mensah, and garden designer Lucy Chamberlain are creating a collection of eye-catching, edible Borders for this year’s BBC Gardeners’ World events, inspired by the BBC Gardeners’ World Make a Metre Matter campaign. The campaign has seen gardeners pledge more than 15,500 planet-friendly metres that will support the UK’s 30by30 target to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
BBC Gardeners’ World events are fertile ground for new ideas, with 2026 set to be a bumper year for garden inspiration. Head to the flagship BBC Gardeners’ World Live for sensational summer show gardens, the Floral Marquee and thousands of plants, including brand new varieties. The Spring and Autumn Fairs offer great days out in glorious heritage locations, with seasonal gardening advice, hands-on workshops, lifestyle shopping and a fun, festival vibe. Great food and drink at each event are a given!
Spring starts
First up in the BBC Gardeners’ World live event calendar for 2026 is the BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair. Thisvibrant celebration of spring gardeningtakes place atBeaulieu in the New Forest, Hampshire from 1–3 May 2026. The Spring Fair features a host of horticultural highlights, and tickets provide full access to Beaulieu’s extensive grounds, gardens and attractions, including Palace House and the National Motor Museum.
Headline event sponsor Hillier tops the bill with a quad of inspiring back garden designs, featuring a family garden, an urban garden, a container garden and a cottage garden. The Hillier Experience features one-to-one plant advice, the Hillier plant and accessories shop to take elements of the show gardens home, and talks from Hillier experts, plus daily plant sessions at the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage and Subscriber Lounge.
The Spring Fair has further Showcase Gardens, Beautiful Borders, and specialist nurseries selling top-quality plants. Student teams from Capel Manor, Coastland (formerly Weymouth and Kingston Maurward) and Merrist Wood Colleges will compete in the Spring Fair’s College Gardens competition. Mentored by award-winning garden designer, Cherry Carmen, the teams will be designing imaginative gardens, inspired by a creative theme of ‘Reimagined Traditions’.
BBC Gardeners’ World presenters Adam Frost (Friday), Frances Tophill (Saturday), Ashley Edwards and Sue Kent (both Sunday) will join David Hurrion and the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine editors on stage, sharing expert advice for the spring gardening season. There are wreath making and bug hotel workshops, garden tours by the Spring Fair’s Plant Experts, quality plant, garden and lifestyle shopping, and vintage games for families. Ade Sellars will be chatting ‘plot-to-plate’ with a lineup of guests at the In Conversation Stage, including Good Food editor and chef, Barney Desmazery.
Food and drink writer and broadcaster, Andy Clarke, will be hosting the Spring Table, sponsored by Regent Seven Sea Cruises, featuring daily tasting sessions by Beaulieu winery, B58, and New Forest distillers, 820 Spirits (ticketed). Feeling peckish? There’s delicious food and drink, live music and street food at the Good Food Market.
Book now atwww.bbcgardenersworldfair.com. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscribers and Hillier Garden Club members enjoy discounted tickets and exclusive access to the Club Lounge. Parking is free. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome (outdoor areas).
In warm, sunny June, more than 90,000 keen gardeners flock to BBC Gardeners’ World Live at theNEC Birmingham (18-21 June) to share the joys of summer gardening. Fabulous flora, foliage and famous gardening faces are just some of the many highlights of this popular, annual spectacular.
Dozens of award-winning designers and landscapers, first-time creators, schools, charities and organisations will be showcasing their designs. From large, ambitious Show Gardens to smaller Beautiful Borders, planted wheelbarrows and trolleys, there’s take-home inspiration at every turn. The event’s Beautiful Borders competition will feature fascinating stories told through plants, with a creative theme of ‘Once Upon a Time’.
The Association of Professional Landscapers returns this year to celebrate ten years of APL Avenue at BBC Gardeners’ World Live. A selection of APL member companies will design and build stylish outdoor living spaces which demonstrate professional landscapers’ technical skills, attention to detail and creative use of materials. Experts at the APL Design Clinic will be offering visitors garden planning advice and support.
At the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Theatre, sponsored by British Garden Centres, Nicki Chapman and BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine’s Content Director, Kevin Smith, will welcome Monty Don, Adam Frost and Frances Tophill for entertaining summer gardening chat and advice. This year’s theatre will be a more intimate experience with unallocated seating and tickets priced at just £5, or free of charge for British Garden Centres sessions.
De-Graft Mensah will join the fun, sharing his passion for edible plants and discussing his role as a schools ambassador for Make a Meal Matter. In thisexciting new development for the BBC Gardeners’ World Make a Metre Matter campaign, local schoolchildren will be planting and growing ingredients for their favourite meals in one-metre wheelbarrows. Last year’s Make a Metre Matter campaign saw UK gardeners commit to creating more than 15,500 nature- and planet-friendly metres, from mini ponds and salad plots to pollinator patches and compost spaces.
Adam Frost returns to host the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Tasting Table, featuring live cooking demonstrations, summer food inspiration and culinary guests from BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine and Good Food. Also new for 2026 is the QVC Outdoor Living Stage with exciting alfresco lifestyle inspiration, including cooking demonstrations with Ninja, and scent and candelight tips with Neom.
The BBC Gardeners’ World Live Floral Marquee, sponsored by L&G, never fails to impress with its displays by leading plant nurseries and growers, the International Orchid Show, and the Hot Off the Potting Bench gallery of new plants – all contenders for the event’s Peter Seabrook Award for Best New Plant. New highlights for the Floral Marquee this year are floral bouquet workshops (ticketed), a new Book Shop with author signings, H.W. Hyde and Son’s Centenary display, and Caley Brothers’ immersive celebration of mushrooms. Head to the Let’s Talk Plants Stage, sponsored by Hillier, for industry-leading plant knowledge and drop by the Plant Experts’ advice desk for help with plant problems. Wool Pots return to the Floral Marquee with their eco-conscious Pot Swap initiative, swapping more than 8,500 plastic plant pots for zero-waste, natural wool alternatives at last year’s event.
There’s more of course, like floristry and garden craft workshops, guided garden walks with the show’s Plant Experts, indoor gardening inspiration at the Green Rooms houseplant space, and the Artisan Collective Market featuring a handpicked selection of small artisan producers and boutique gifting brands. Grill fans will love the exciting new pop-up from Smoke & Fire, the UK’s leading BBQ festival, featuring a cookery school, stage talks, shopping, a kitchen garden and children’s activities. In a brand new collaboration with BBC Introducing…, BBC Gardeners’ World Live will be showcasing a daily lineup of live, local music talent.
Tickets for BBC Gardeners’ World Live include entry to Good Food Show Summer, featuring kitchen talks and demonstrations by well-known chefs, food and drink to taste and take home, and shopping. Buy tickets now at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com, including VIP and two-day options. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscribers enjoy discounted tickets and access to the Subscriber Lounge for up to three friends, with exclusive talks, extra seating and refreshment options.
Autumn at Audley End
Mellow September days set the tone for the BBC Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair at English Heritage’s beautiful Audley End House and Gardens in Saffron Walden, Essex (11–13 September). There’s seasonal inspiration throughout with Showcase Gardens, Beautiful Borders and floral displays that are rich in colour and texture, and the Autumn Table featuring harvest-themed food and drink workshops. At the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Stage, presenters Frances Tophill (Friday), Adam Frost (Saturday), Ashley Edwards and Sue Kent (both Sunday), and the Magazine team will be sharing autumnal advice for the cooler months to come.
New for 2026, the Association of Professional Landscapers will be championing the next generation of landscaping talent with a Showcase Garden supported by apprentices from three local member companies. Head to the APL’s Design Clinic for expert advice on gardening planning. In addition, there are Plant Expert tours of the organic Kitchen Gardens, dried flower wreath workshops, extensive plant and garden shopping, a street food village, live music, and delicious food and drink to taste and buy at the Good Food Market.
Tickets are available at www.bbcgardenersworldfair.com from spring 2026 and include full access to Audley End House, its grounds and gardens. BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscribers enjoy discounted tickets and exclusive access to the Autumn Fair’s Club Lounge with extra seating, exclusive talks and additional refreshment options. English Heritage members enjoy ticket discounts too. Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in outdoor areas at no extra cost.
Lucy Tremlett, Event Director at Immediate Live, organisers of BBC Gardeners’ World events, said: “You can’t beat the experience of seeing wonderful plants, gardens and experts up close and in person, and that’s exactly what visitors enjoy about BBC Gardeners’ World events. We’re thrilled to have De-Graft Mensah joining us this year to co-create our Make a Metre Matter Border collection. His passion for edible plants is sure to shine through in his designs. There are great new highlights at all three locations this year, alongside favourite features like the show gardens and Borders, plant displays and stages, workshops, talks, tours and more. No matter how green your fingers, there’s always so much to see, learn and do at BBC Gardeners’ World Live and our heritage location Fairs. You’ll never go home empty handed!”
Source Julie Parmentor, Brampton PR
