THIS year’s Urban Gardens at Olympia (May 7-9) will see some of the world’s leading garden designers create gardens that combine functionality with a sense of style.

Recreation is the theme to this year’s show, from luxurious spas and energetic exercise gardens to self sufficiency and design ideas for small town plots.

Kent companies at this year’s show include TempleCo Ten Limited, Rhino Rock Landscapes, Gardenscape, Henley Salt Landscapes and Ian FitzRoy Nurseryman, specialist growers of Japanese maples.

Urban Gardens is the home of contemporary gardening, with exhibitors providing an array of elegant furniture, lighting, water features, garden art and plants - all ideal for urban gardens.

For those with specific design queries, the new Living Etc design clinic, hosted by a selection of the UK’s leading contemporary designers, will allow visitors to enjoy one-to-one consultations and to discuss individual needs.

Alternatively, the BBC Celebrity Theatre, featuring the gardening celebrities Diarmuid Gavin and Matt James will provide the latest ideas for truly unique gardens.

This year the main show gardens will follow the theme of recreation in the garden.

With time and space at a premium for many town dwellers the show offers a chance to see how even the smallest of outdoor plots can be turned into a space for leisure, pleasure and total relaxation.

Bringing together the most innovative garden designers and the very latest trends, with cutting edge urban horticulturalists and stylish garden products - whether looking for a minimalist outdoor room, a stylish roof garden or even an urban jungle - Urban Gardens 2004 has got the solution.