There’s something about oak that people like. If you lined up ten planks each made from a different type of wood most people would immediately pick out the oak one. This is an entirely unscientific statement that I just made up but I will stand by it nonetheless. I’ve just been to visit Alan Hayward joinery who are making a 5 metre long oak bench for the garden. The workshop is filled with tropical hardwoods and cedar, the smell of freshly sawn timber hangs in the air and all around beautifully crafted wooden things are being made.

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We are inching closer and closer to the end product. I realize that inching may not be the best speed at which to approach something as important as Chelsea Flower Show but for me it is fine. It’s like hunting a stag: The stalking has to be carried out with enormous care and diligence as each footstep is carefully considered before it is taken in case one stumbles in the heather and ruins ones chances. This all takes a considerable amount of time and I imagine is quite boring to watch but then right and the end, bang! The drama comes all at once, it’s over in a second and you’ve got your prize (hopefully).

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It’s February. The worst possible month for gardeners. And don’t give me that 'snowdrops and crocus' nonsense. The whole point of Chelsea is that it rides the rush of spring. It’s an exciting time and now is not. Sorry. I’m actually very excited about the whole thing because spring is just round the corner but if I seem a little negative it’s because this is what my Chelsea plants look like.

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I’ve had an email from a colleague who is also at Chelsea this year. I won’t name her (or him) but she (or he) has also started having the Chelsea dreams.

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This is what sits next to my desk on ‘The Chelsea Table’ which arrived in my studio en route to a garage for storage. It had only been there for 5 minutes when someone put something on it. That was nearly 2 years ago and it is now the almost permanent home to a model of The M&G Garden alongside samples of all the stone and other materials we will use.

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I remember last time I made a garden at Chelsea in 2010 I just couldn’t wait to get started on site. The whole process has a kind of hypothetical air about it until a digger arrives on site and someone digs a hole. Until then its hard to believe it’s ever going to happen.

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The Chelsea dreams have started, and not the ones about winning Gold. Far from it in fact. In my dream I completely forgot I was doing a Chelsea garden and was wandering around the show ground the day before when someone asked me how my garden was coming on. ‘I’m not doing a garden’ I said. ‘Yes you are’ came the reply. I was shown my plot and working through the night I did the best I could but only managed to make a garden the size of a small car and it was utter rubbish. I didn’t even get a bronze.

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I wasn’t sure why M&G had asked me to design a garden for them at Chelsea 2012 as I couldn’t see how my style fitted with their more traditional brand. Although I often create country gardens for period houses I am definitely known for making modern gardens. I thought I’d better bring this up at the first meeting in case they had mistaken me for Chris Beardshaw.

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M&G Investments is proud to announce that it has commissioned award-wining landscape and garden designer Andy Sturgeon to create a show garden for our third year at the Chelsea Flower Show. Inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement, Andy will create a ‘New English’ design for The M&G Garden that celebrates traditional craftsmanship and the beauty of natural materials and country garden planting.

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