Stealing a march on the hottest gardening trends, I hot-footed it down to the Chelsea Flower Show this week, and was surrounded by the best garden designers, landscapers, nurseries and plants.

Chelsea has come a long way since it first started in 1913.

Attracting about 165,000 visitors each year, it is the most prestigious horticultural show in the world and is the height of fashion.

I am now able to give a lowdown on this year’s trends.

First, naturalistic planting remains de rigeur.

With the much-anticipated return of designer Dan Pearson, his vast Chatsworth Garden landscape spectacle feels more like a walk in the woods than a potter in a backyard.

The trout stream, an ancient white willow and large boulders deliver lived-in integrity to the space, one of the many reasons why this garden secured its gold medal and the top accolade of best in show.

Surrey Comet:

Dan Pearson's Chatsworth Garden

Then there are the statement trees.

Recognising the clever trick of exploiting the textural quality of a good specimen tree, Matt Keightley included a cork oak in his African-inspired Sentebale garden.

Meanwhile, Jo Thompson selected river birches with shaggy trunks to bring her retreat garden to life.

Both designers scooped silver gilt awards for their efforts.

And what about the oranges and lemons?

Following on from Luciano Giubbilei’s fresh lemon and lime best in show garden last year, Mr Pearson has blended yellow and deep pink blooms.

Orange button-like geums popped up everywhere – from Fernando Gonzalez’s futuristic silver gilt award-winning pure land foundation garden, to the dense manicured borders in Adam Frost’s gold award-winning Homebase garden.

Show organisers the Royal Horticultural Society carefully manage Chelsea’s rich mix of designers and nurseries so that inspiring new green shoots are produced year after year.

With its show gardens catering for modernists and traditionalists alike, there is truly something for everyone and plenty for gardeners to take away and recreate back home.

l Georgina Chahed is a garden designer and the owner of Touch Landscapes. Visit touchlandscapes. com.