Messy, wild-looking gardens are better for mental health than pristine pruning, an exhibitor at Chelsea Flower Show has claimed.

Matt Keightley, who designed the RHS Feel Good Garden, said that for mental health, gardens should be natural and untidy, and that perfect geometric shapes can be stressful.

He told the BBC’s Jeremy Vine Show: "It's a planting that has quite organic and quite natural form. And the idea behind that is rather than geometry and straight lines - you don't want people to feel forced through the garden, they need to feel compelled to move into it and meander round it at their own pace, and feel at complete ease when they move through the garden.”

The garden was commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society, and after the flower show will be donated to Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust.

Mr Keightley also said trees make people with depression feel secure, adding: "Something that's really important is the structure of the trees. People might suffer from depression or a lack of confidence or simply stress or anxiety - for a garden to work for those kind of people we need to make them feel secure...and these trees do that, they create a bit of security on top of you without blocking views through the garden.”