The making of a Chelsea garden

In the June issue of GARDENS ILLUSTRATED - on sale 25 May - designer Arne Maynard has written about using roses as part of your garden design.

But as well as the Design Ideas series he's writing for us, Arne has spent the last year preparing for his Chelsea Flower Show garden, which will mark the bi-centenary of champagne house Laurent-Perrier.

This is to be Arne's second garden at Chelsea; the first was back in 2000, when he and Piet Oudolf designed a garden for Gardens Illustrated – and won Best in Show. Now we're within days of the 2012 show opening and it's nerve-wracking times as the hours tick by – and the rain keeps threatening and the temperatures remain low.

But whereas 12 years ago, Arne would have kept all the build-up excitement to himself because there was no easy way of sharing it, we now have access to blogs and video diaries that let us in on the secret of creating a Chelsea show garden.

Take a look at this series of films, created by James Aitken, which offer us a glimpse of exactly what's going on at Arne's garden as we reach the final moments of preparation.

You can also see the films at Arne's website.

And a little extra note: lots of the other designers offer preview glimpses, so it's worth looking to see what's available via sponsors' website, etc. Or there's a series of clips on the BBC RHS Chelsea Flower Show website. PLUS we couldn't resist mentioning the latest episode from Three Men Went to Mow – with their own take on the Chelsea build-up.