It was not immediately apparent, not to judge from the amount of champagne on offer, or the six-figure gardens where flowers bloomed with a punctuality that owes more to big budgets than nature. But the signs were there all the same. A garden made out of old scrap when their main sponsor pulled out, and the former fashion designer Wayne Hemingway keeping his garden going by pedalling furiously on an exercise bike: the Chelsea Flower Show is feeling the pinch.

On the face of it, of course, the world of gardening remains unsullied by such vulgar distractions as interest rates and credit flow. The only chill winds that gardeners worry about are the ones that put frost on their apple blossom. But money and Chelsea are inextricably linked — never more so than in the trio of show gardens under the theme of the credit crunch: the Overdrawn Artist’s Garden, the Offshore Garden and the Banker’s Garden.

The gardens, designed by Sarah Eberle, may have been the result of natural disaster rather than economic crisis — they were a late substitute when an Australian exhibitor lost everything in the bush fires — but their budget was still a sharp reminder that even the grounds of the Royal Hospital are not immune to financial hardship.

“The Offshore Garden is symbolic of keeping your assets away from prying eyes,” Ms Eberle said. “We’ve flooded the front garden, and there are stepping stones across the water. There’s also a remote-control yacht you can play with. But it keeps crashing into the rocks, which I think is symbolic.”

The entire budget for the three gardens was £15,000; when Ms Eberle won Best in Show a couple of years ago, her budget was £300,000. “This is minuscule,” she said. “We’ve begged, we’ve borrowed, although we probably fought shy of stealing. Whenever anyone from one of the other gardens said something was going back to the nursery we said, ‘Can we have it?’ I think they were getting quite fed up with us.”

Around the corner, the Future Nature garden team had their main sponsor pull out in January, which left them with only half their original budget. “It was a bit of a shock,” said Adrian Hallam, an architect. “We looked at each other and said, ‘Is this the end?’ But we thought, this garden is about telling people that anyone can do this, so now we are going to be forced to do it ourselves.”

Which is exactly what they did, with features made out of condemned roofing slates, planks salvaged from demolition sites, and insect boxes made from an old fence. A medal would be nice, Mr Hallam said, “but the greatest homage would be for someone to say, ‘I could do that’.”

At least Wayne Hemingway — the designer who founded Red or Dead — was not being forced to ride his bicycle out of economic hardship. Politics, more like. The bicycle powers a pump, which drives an irrigation system that waters the fruit and vegetable garden hidden behind a wall. When the summer is over, the garden will end up in a housing development in Gateshead. “This is about reconnecting people,” Mr Hemingway said. “This is about getting outside and doing something.”

He may want to provide gardens for the people, and to encourage disadvantaged youngsters to take exercise and help the environment, but Chelsea is still Chelsea, and the show and money will never be estranged for long.

Near by, one of the show gardens bore the legend: “Taking inspiration from Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust’s 141 years of investment growth and adaption.”

What gardener could have greater inspiration? Just so long as the cheque clears, of course.

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