At this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the designs for the All About Plants category examine how plants, wildlife and people, adapt and interact with the environment around them. Characteristically, these gardens have a particular focus on unusual and specialist plants and all are supported by Project Giving Back.
Amidst the ongoing climate crisis, The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden by Zoe Claymore features the verdant wilderness of the rainforests that once swathed the British west coast. Reflecting a trend towards naturalistic planting and regenerative gardening, the planting utilises native shade-loving plants to boost local wildlife. Lichened silver birch trees, dense ferns, and foxgloves will feature throughout, while a striking two-metre moss wall will provide a lush backdrop for a tumbling waterfall. The garden will be built by Frogheath Landscapes. Claymore won a gold, Best in Category and the People’s Choice award for her 2023, RHS Hampton Court Flower Show The Wildlifes Trusts: Renter’s Retreat.
Seawilding by Ryan McMahon will capture the spirit of Scotland’s west coast landscape, with a saltwater pool planted with seagrass, the UK’s only native ocean plant. This will be the first RHS Chelsea garden to be partially relocated to the ocean floor. The garden exclusively features plants native to the west coast of Scotland, such as globeflower, a wildflower of the Scottish wet meadows, and string sedge. The garden will be built by Frogheath Landscapes. McMahon, a landscape architect designed his first Show Garden in the UK at RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival for Alzheimer’s Research UK and won Bronze.
A soft, countryside-inspired palette of plants features in The SongBird Survival Garden by Nicola Oakey which highlights how gardeners can support the UK’s declining songbird population. Bird-friendly planting such as arctic bramble, grasses and yew hedges provide food, nesting material and shelter for songbirds whose population has declined by 50% in just two generations. The garden will be built by Crowton Rowarth Ltd. A garden writer, Oakley took part in the 2018 RHS Young Designer of the Year competition at RHS Tatton Park Flower Show and was awarded a Silver-gilt medal.
The Hospitalfield Arts Garden, a new addition to the show garden category, joins the homage to British landscapes with a dramatic dune topography and coastal planting inspired by the east coast of Scotland. Designed by Dr Nigel Dunnett, who returns to RHS Chelsea for the first time since 2017, the garden features planting established in sand to demonstrate how mineral materials can be used as a growing medium to encourage more diverse plants. Dr Nigel Dunnett BSc (Hons), MSc PhD FLI is Professor of Planting Design and Urban Horticulture in the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield. Dunnett has designed five main avenue RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens between 2010 and 2020
From biodiversity to neurodiversity, The ADHD Foundation Garden designed by Kate Terry celebrates the uniqueness of people. A layered sensory space, the garden will feature uncommon plant varieties as well as popular plants fashioned in an unusual way to reflect the beauty of diversity. The garden will be built by PC Landscapes. Terry, a garden designer founded Good Grounding Garden in 2003, where she offers private clients outdoor solutions that incorporate sustainable materials, whilst respecting the ecological balance of the site and providing habitats for wildlife.
Helena Pettit, Director of Shows, Commercial and Innovation said: “RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always an exciting opportunity for designers to offer a different perspective on garden design, and it’s lovely to see designers bring these British Isle landscapes to life across the garden categories. These designs are a wonderful example of how gardeners from all walks of life can look closer to home for beautiful and sustainable gardening inspiration.”
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from the 20th – 24th of May 2025.