Tips to ensure perfect visit to famous showground

It may have been a late spring but the Chelsea Flower Show is almost upon us. Tickets are running out fast. The show runs from Tuesday, May 23, until Saturday, May 27. And that extra Saturday makes it less crowded than it used to be. Although it's still not a place to go if you find crowds difficult, for the showground is too small to allow many places to sit and recover from the bustle and excitement.

Nevertheless, it is the best flower show in the world and Oxfordshire residents are well placed to get there.

If you use the economical Oxford Express bus, which ends its run at Victoria Coach Station, it is only a short walk to the Royal Hospital. Most of the remaining tickets are for the afternoon session, which allows entry from 3.30pm until 8pm. Bear in mind that the grounds are busiest between 4pm and 6pm, when day and evening tickets overlap. It thins out for the last two hours.

The show gardens dominate TV coverage and the crush to see the most televised makes them hard to see from the front. These gardens are designed to be viewed from every angle, so use the less crowded side paths.

Saga is sponsoring the show for the the first time and has its own garden. Other major gardens are also being sponsored by regulars, including Laurent Perrier, The Daily Telegraph and Cancer Research.

Several top designers are Chelsea veterans because their expertise means they can pull a gold medal out of the hat in most years.

Tom Stuart-Smith, designer of Broughton Grange's Walled Garden, between Bloxham and Banbury (open on June 25 between 10am and 5pm), uses a soft mix of early-season grasses and perennials within formal hornbeam and box with a trademark rill. Most gardens will feature early hardy geraniums, tall bearded irises, soft grasses, astrantias and aquilegias because they flower early. Although most people can't aspire to a show garden, we can adapt ideas, look for combinations of plants and explore new trends. The smaller gardens are often more useful in this respect.

A wildlife theme dominated last year's show, but this year the message has swung towards healthy living. The Saga Garden and the 4Head Garden feature medicinal and culinary herbs. Cancer Research emphasises the importance of relaxation.

Many of the show gardens feature foreign parts. There are gardens from Australia, New Zealand and Africa. Others recreate a Chicago Ravine?, a French chateau, a Scandinavian landscape and there's even a Gorilla Jungle. Thankfully, the no-animals policy means there's no gorilla.

Don't forget to look at the exhibitors in the Grand Pavilion. They have time to talk to you because plants can't be sold here. Their displays are breathtaking.

Buy a show guide. It is as indispensable as comfortable shoes, a bottle of water and a sandwich. The map is conveniently hidden at the back and the colours on the page edges correspond to the map. The alphabetical index, also at the back, is another invaluable help.

Ring the following numbers to book your tickets: RHS Member Bookings: 0870 906 3780 (Please have your membership card to hand) Non-member bookings: 0870 906 3781 Group bookings: 020 7014 8444 Coach bookings: 020 7014 8440. Cottage pie . . . Chelsea pensioners enjoying lunch at the flower show