Garden built by inmates vies for Chelsea honours

A GARDEN involving prison inmates and the homeless is competing for top honours against a luxury design featuring a swimming pool and spa at the world’s most famous flower show.

Around 600 exhibitors unveil their creations at the Chelsea Flower Show today, with more than 150,000 garden-lovers expected at the sold-out event over the next five days.

Designers had to contend with unseasonal frosts up to a week before the show opened, leading to concerns that this year’s event would be less colourful than years past. But organisers at the Royal Horticultural Society have promised a spectacular display, with a pair of giant seeping lock gates, a section of wrought-iron bridge and the swimming pool with submerged bar seats all vying for judges’ attention.