IT’S a big week in the gardening world as the Chelsea Flower Show is upon us. I realise that this is an internationally renowned event and that people come from all over the place to visit or as exhibitors... BUT – have you seen the price of the tickets? Blimey – eye-watering or what? If you are a member of the RHS and have an all-day ticket for the first day (members only, by the way), it will have set you back £69 – yes, that’s what I said. By the third day when a non-member turns up they will need to shell out £59.

I used to go to Chelsea every year when I lived in London. I’d get there at 8am on the Friday and queue up with the hordes. By about 11.30am I’d had enough of the shoving and pushing... people monopolising the exhibitors even when they could see a queue of people behind them, scribbling furiously in their notebooks... elbowing you in the ribs... so TIRING. I must confess that I am not a lover of crowds and even had to force myself to see the Beach Boys at Wembley once in the 1980s. (It was worth it, though it took two hours to get out of the car park.)

So, no Chelsea for me – I’ll watch it on the TV, thank you, and read the descriptions of the gardens in the magazines and papers instead.

Hampton Court, from June 30 until July 5, is a bit better because at least there is more space so your chances of actually seeing something properly are raised. It’s also cheaper with members’ all-day tickets for the first day a mere £36. The same plant exhibitors will be there along with many more so you get your money’s worth.

And then I wonder, what’s the point?! The show gardens are just that... SHOW gardens, although to be fair, some of the more useful and environmentally and community-conscious ones are sold off cheaply to good causes these days. Now a SHOW garden had a specific brief that it had to accomplish, given to the designer by the sponsor, whereas your average garden is YOUR garden – warts and all – minus the extravagant use of copper circles, or stainless steel rills margined with painstakingly handmade mosaics... we just go to the Build Centre or wherever.

So, what IS the point? Well, apart from doing a great PR job for the UK, these big shows are all about enthusiasm – for plants, for gardens and for gardening. They are also events, and much business is done at them behind the scenes. For your average visitor, it’s a chance to get a bit of inspiration – not the whole package as that’s all a bit overwhelming – but a particular bit of a garden, a stunning new plant that you had not come across before, a lovely planting group with a variety of textures and shapes for a dark corner... there’ll be something to catch your eye. But I’ll be making my notes from the comfort of my sofa... good luck to those of you who are seeing it all in the flesh.

If you want to get out into your own patch, remember about the ‘Chelsea Chop’ – as in cutting back summer herbaceous perennials to keep them more compact and flower later than they normally would. Look on the RHS website for guidance.