The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden for the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show looks to evoke the lush, wet woodlands that once swathed vast areas of the west coast of the British Isles. By bringing the enchantment of temperate rainforests to RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Wildlife Trusts hope to inspire people to support the restoration of this threatened habitat and show how nature-friendly gardening can help British wildlife thrive.
The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva have been working together since 2023 on a mission to bring rainforests back to the British Isles. The British Rainforest Garden will tell the story of this precious habitat that once blanketed a fifth of the country but now only covers about 1% of the land – and the work underway to recover it. Part of the All About Plants category at the show, the garden will celebrate the plants found in Britain’s temperate rainforests of today. The garden is sponsored by Project Giving Back and supported by Aviva.
Aviva and The Wildlife Trusts have begun restoring rainforests down the west coast, from Skiddaw in Cumbria and Bryn Ifan in North Wales, to Bowden Pillars in Devon.
“We’re thrilled to bring the wonder of British rainforests to RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Project Giving Back. People are always amazed when they see the astonishing range of magical mosses and fantastic ferns that call our rainforests home, as well as the other wildlife that depends on them, like the pied flycatcher. They are truly awe-inspiring places. We’re privileged to work with Zoe whose interpretation of these special places aims to inspire people to support our work to restore rainforests. It is part of a huge mission by The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva to turn the tide on the UK’s nature and climate crises,” said Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts.
Claudine Blamey, Aviva Chief Sustainability Officer, says: “Working with The Wildlife Trusts to bring the experience of British rainforest to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year is a wonderful moment in our partnership to re-establish this incredibly rare and beautiful habitat across the UK. These enchanting ecosystems are usually only found on the west of the UK so giving visitors the opportunity to experience the wonder of British rainforests is really exciting and I hope inspires people to consider how they can support nature restoration.”
Design & planting
The garden will immerse visitors in verdant fronds beneath dappled sunlight, to the bubbling sound of flowing water. People can linger among lichened boughs of birch and delight in mounds of mosses beside a tumbling waterfall. A rare Royal fern will froth amid bursts of blue, yellow and pink provided by bluebells, marsh marigolds and foxgloves.
Features include:
- Raised wooden walkway which will snake across the garden, transporting visitors over moss-covered ground past a tumbling waterfall
- Silver birch tree will lean over the wooden walkway at a dramatic angle – a naturally occurring feature to symbolise nature’s resilience in the face of adversity
- Fern and moss wall will span the entire 8 metre width of the garden, covered in many species of ferns and mosses, and draped in ivy
The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden will be built by landscaping company Frogheath Landscapes. The plants are being grown by specialist nurseries and two Plant Heritage national collections are collaborating on the project, including members of the British Fern Society, and Stone Lane Gardens which is home to the national collections of birch and alder.
The designer
An emerging talent, Zoe Claymore, based in Southwest London specialises in creating residential gardens and planting schemes that stand out for their personal and sustainable approach. Drawing on her background in research and psychology, she looks to design spaces that suit their natural environment and architectural vernacular while reducing carbon impact, and also have deep emotional meaning for their owners. 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.
“I’ve felt a deep personal connection to British rainforests since my childhood and have many happy memories playing amongst the rocks, stream and moss boulders at my grandparents’ house by the Lydford Gorge. Visiting Devon Wildlife Trust’s Dart Valley nature reserve as part of my research for the garden felt like going home. Plants have provided me with such a safe, healing connection in difficult times, and I hope this garden can inspire others to find their own healing relationship with nature. There are around 23 million gardens across the UK, which, if designed right, can play a central role in nature’s recovery – particularly in urban areas. Small spaces like our British Rainforest Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show will show how people can use what they have and embrace their local climate when creating a garden – allowing themselves and wildlife thrive, no matter where they live,”explains Claymore.
Alex Denman, Trustee of Project Giving Back, says: “As gardeners we can do so much to support the revival of temperate rainforests and to encourage a wealth of British wildlife to thrive. I can’t wait to see The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden at RHS Chelsea 2025 and know that show visitors will leave feeling inspired and empowered to garden in harmony with nature. Project Giving Back is really proud to be supporting this garden at the show this year.”