GREEN-fingered youngsters from a school in Bromsgrove, preparing to submit gardens for the RHS Malvern Spring Festival have been treated to a horticultural masterclass.

The pupils from Parkside Middle School were being given advice for their own garden by Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins.

The children are hoping to put together a competitive show garden for the festival, which takes place in May, along the theme of ‘A Great Moment in History’.

They will be competing against 20 other schools, with all age ranges taking part from year 13 pupils, to playgroups.

Sue Verdeyen, education officer for the Three Counties Showground, said: “At RHS Malvern, we are passionate about inspiring young people to fall in love with gardening and design. We are very proud to be the only RHS show that has a project specifically for schools. It’s a great opportunity for the children to get some hands on experience into the design, horticultural and construction industries.

“These youngsters are involved in every aspect of creating their gardens; the design, the sowing, the growing of their own plants and the hard landscaping. They have some great ideas and we can’t wait to see how the gardens are going to take shape.”

Blue Peter’s Chris Collins joined a panel of experts from the horticultural and construction industries to offer the children practical advice and information ahead of their garden design.

He added: “It has been a superb way to kick off the School Gardens Challenge for RHS Malvern. The two days of workshops have put everybody in the mood and the ideas have been flying. I am so excited about the show in May and seeing the children’s show gardens come to life. These show gardens will give the kids a real insight into practical gardening and give them memories that they will treasure.”

The gardens will be judged by RHS experts on Wednesday, May 7, the day before the RHS Malvern Spring Festival opens to the public.

The festival runs from Thursday, May 8 until Sunday, May 11 with an estimated 90,000 visitors expected to descend on the festival ground.

For more information, or to buy tickets for the festival, visit threecounties.co.uk/springgardening.