There were rumbles on the show ground on Tuesday. Several trade stands, nurseries and designer folk muttering that it was all ‘a bit old hat’, ‘seen it all before‘, ‘too safe‘, ‘nothing new under the sun‘.

I will admit I wasn’t as wowed as I had been last year, and there seemed to be rather a lot of Gold for what seemed to me be rather run of the mill if very well executed gardens.

Then Diarmuid Gavin launched in with a short tirade on BBC evening coverage (at around 40:50), Alan T. mildly berating him, but only mildly. Maybe Alan agreed? Then in Saturday’s wrap up Joe Swift made similar though rather more guarded comments about 2013 not being as creatively adventurous previous years (sic).

Was it all a bit safe?

Were the Gold’s handed out ‘to compensate’ for a disappointing set of show gardens?

What’s your view?

Love or hate that furniture, the garden was beautifully and thoughtfully executed.