RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden Guide
Explore our guide to the top RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gardens.
Published
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024
Discover the most captivating gardens of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 with our comprehensive guide. From innovative designs to timeless classics, this year's showcase promises a stunning array of horticultural artistry. Whether you're seeking inspiration for your own garden or simply wish to marvel at the creativity on display, our guide will lead you through the highlights of this prestigious event, celebrating the best in gardening from this years show.
Killik & Co: ‘Money Doesn't Grow On Trees’ Garden
The Killik & Co garden, designed by Baz Grainger and built by Landform Consultants, is a Silver Gilt medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. This scented, immersive haven offers a supportive environment for families to connect and relax. A winding path of limestone and oak pavers, wide enough to encourage conversation, leads to a central water well, fed by an aqueduct on top of a limestone and steel pergola. This structure shelters a communal dining area, ideal for family gatherings.
The garden features reclining seats cushioned between fragrant beds, oak planters with built-in seating, and a calming colour palette of soft whites, pale lemons, and pops of lavender and purple. Notably, it emphasises sustainability, using reclaimed materials, avoiding cement, and selecting drought-resistant plants. This thoughtful design creates a tranquil, eco-friendly space perfect for family interactions.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Baz Grainger
Built by: Landform Consultants
Sponsored by Killik & Co Allgreen
The Addleshaw Goddard Junglette Garden
The Gold medal-winning garden, designed by Mike McMahon and Jewlsy Mathews and built by Mike McMahon Studio, is a standout at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. Sponsored by Addleshaw Goddard, this garden transforms a city balcony into a serene sanctuary inspired by jungle environments. Its hardy tropical planting mimics the jungle's structural layers, providing a lush retreat from urban commotion.
A seating area enveloped by cascading flora evokes a colossal hanging basket, while a striking folded back wall crafted from recycled paper adds depth and echoes jungle strata. The garden promotes biodiversity with bird nests, integrated bat boxes, and a small pond, showcasing the potential for flourishing microcosms on a balcony. Sustainability is key, with recycled materials used throughout, and elements like the oval-shaped decking repurposed into dining and coffee tables after the show. This imaginative design harmonizes nature and aesthetics, creating an impactful, eco-friendly space for city residents.
Gold medal winner
Designed by: Mike McMahon & Jewlsy Mathews
Built by: Mike McMahon Studio
Sponsored by: Addleshaw Goddard
The Bridgerton Garden
The Bridgerton Garden, a Silver medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024, is a secretive and secluded space designed by Holly Johnston and built by Stewart Landscape Construction, sponsored by Netflix. Inspired by Penelope Featherington from Netflix and Shondaland’s Bridgerton, this garden reflects her personal journey from a wallflower to embracing her true self.
A moongate leads to an ornate water feature and sunken seating area, symbolizing Penelope's initial seclusion. One side of the garden is shaded, representing mystery and secrets with layers of groundcover, ferns, and ivy. In contrast, the other half transitions to a brighter palette, symbolizing her transformation and self-acceptance. The design includes a curving path leading to a sculptural monolith symbolizing change, and a return journey past an armillary sphere through vibrant planting. Sustainable features include drystone walling, salvaged materials, and eco-friendly cement, creating an enchanting and eco-conscious retreat.
Silver medal winner
Designed by: Holly Johnston
Built by: Stewart Landscape Construction
Sponsored by: Netflix
Forest Bathing Garden
The Muscular Dystrophy UK - Forest Bathing Garden, designed by Ula Maria and built by Crocus, is the Gold medal winner and Best Show Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. Sponsored by Project Giving Back and Muscular Dystrophy UK, this garden offers a serene and reflective space for those affected by muscle-wasting conditions. Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, the garden reconnects visitors with nature through their senses.
A large, textured flint wall, reminiscent of muscle cells, helps explain the impact of Muscular Dystrophy. The garden features a birch grove with over 40 trees and a variety of woodland plants, creating a rich green tapestry. At its heart, a central hub with sculptural flint walls provides a sheltered meeting space, reflecting the support Muscular Dystrophy UK offers its community. Emphasizing sustainability, the garden uses reclaimed materials and reusable foundations, and it will be relocated to benefit the muscle-wasting community.
Gold medal winner, Best Show Garden
Designed by: Ula Maria
Built by: Crocus
Sponsored by: Project Giving Back, Muscular Dystrophy UK
The Panathlon Joy Garden
The Panathlon Foundation Garden, designed by Penelope Walker and built by Stewart Landscape Construction, is a Silver Gilt medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. Sponsored by Project Giving Back, this garden embodies joy and the celebration of differences, making it accessible for all. Curved tree stems and a winding path symbolize inclusion and space, while playful seating areas, including wheelchair accommodations, enhance its welcoming nature. The design features vibrant, uplifting planting schemes to promote joy for everyone.
Sustainable elements include British reclaimed timber, Cem-free construction to reduce cement use, and diverse plantings to boost biodiversity. After the show, the garden will be relocated to Majorie McClure School in Bromley, supporting children with complex medical needs and physical disabilities.
Designed by: Penelope Walker
Built by: Stewart Landscape Construction
Sponsored by: Project Giving Back, The Panathlon Foundation
La Mia Venezia Garden
The Silver medal-winning garden, designed by Michela Trinca and built by Kate Gould Gardens, stands out for its enchanting reflection of Italian heritage. Inspired by Venice, it creates a nostalgic balcony setting that offers both intimate enjoyment and public beautification. Overhanging plants and a pergola transform the space into an enveloped outdoor room, utilizing a unique microclimate to support vibrant, unusual plants. Sustainable features include reclaimed planters, shutters, and wall shelves, promoting upcycling and recycling. Additionally, the resilient planting scheme and borrowed planters ensure that various elements will find new homes, underscoring the garden's commitment to sustainability.
Silver medal winner
Designed by: Michela Trinca
Built by: Kate Gould Gardens
Grief Kind Garden
The Gold medal-winning Sue Ryder Grief Kind Garden, designed by Katherine Holland and built by Greenscape Gardens Ltd, stands out for its serene and supportive environment designed for those experiencing grief or dealing with life-shortening conditions. Sponsored by Project Giving Back, this garden incorporates sensory plants and organic shapes inspired by Bedford's lace-making history, creating a peaceful sanctuary for reflection and connection. Its thoughtful design accommodates varying mobility needs and ensures year-round interest with carefully selected perennials and specimen trees.
Sustainability features include repurposing Yorkshire limestone paving, using CemFree cement to reduce carbon emissions, and sourcing peat-free plants from a family-run nursery. After the show, the garden will be relocated to Sue Ryder St John’s Hospice in Bedford, providing a lasting, dedicated space for grieving and reflection.
Gold medal winner
Designed by: Katherine Holland
Built by: Greenscape Gardens Ltd
Sponsored by: Project Giving Back, Sue Ryder
The Friendship Garden
The Friendship Garden, designed by Jon and James Wheatley, celebrates the 60th anniversary of RHS Britain in Bloom and the community bonds formed through gardening. This garden showcases the transformative impact of communal green spaces on villages, towns, and cities, emphasizing taste, scent, sounds, and visual beauty.
It features a ‘friendship bench’ to encourage new connections and highlights the use of native and British-grown plants, all cultivated peat-free and with minimal chemicals. Sustainability is central, with wildflower plantings, beehives to boost biodiversity, and structures made from recycled materials. After the show, the trees and benches will be relocated to the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival and then gifted to communities across London and the South East, ensuring a lasting legacy.
Designed by: Jon and James Wheatley
MOROTO no IE Garden
The Silver Gilt medal-winning garden, designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara and sponsored by G-Lion Group, seamlessly integrates the beauty of nature with the practicalities of family life. Vibrant acers and a tumbling waterfall create a serene atmosphere, while wall greening camouflages the structure into the surrounding garden, blending seamlessly with the environment.
Sustainability is prioritized with features like permeable paving, solar panel lighting, and rainwater harvesting. The planting scheme highlights the natural landscape of Japan, featuring acers, pines, Farfugium japonicum, iris, and mosses. This harmonious fusion of aesthetics and sustainability makes the garden a standout example of environmentally conscious design.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Kazuyuki Ishihara
Sponsored by: G-Lion Group
Imagine the World to be Different Garden
The Gold medal-winning "Imagine the World to be Different" garden at St James’s Piccadilly, designed by Robert Myers and built by Stewart Landscape Construction, stands out for its celebration of urban green spaces and its commitment to sustainability. The garden serves as a contemplative haven, showcasing a lush, biodiverse planting scheme and soothing water features. Inspired by nature's reclaiming of old bomb sites, the garden highlights the resilience of urban 'pocket parks' in London and other cities.
Key sustainability features include the use of rammed earth for wall construction, avoiding peat-based materials, minimizing waste through careful calculations, and sourcing plants locally to reduce carbon footprint. After the show, the garden's plants will enrich the garden at St Pancras Euston Road, while hard landscaping features will be installed as part of The Wren Project in Piccadilly, ensuring a lasting legacy of ecological vibrancy and community engagement.
Gold medal winner
Designed by: Robert Myers
Built by: Stewart Landscape Construction
Sponsored by: Project Giving Back, St James’s Piccadilly
WaterAid Garden
Gold medal winner
Designed by: Tom Massey and Je Ahn
Built by: Landscape Associates
Sponsored by: Project Giving Back
The Octavia Hill Garden
The Silver Gilt medal-winning urban community wildlife garden, designed by Ann-Marie Powell with the Blue Diamond Team and built by The Landscaping Consultants, shines for its integration of social reformer Octavia Hill's ethos with sustainable design principles. Sponsored by Blue Diamond Garden Centres, National Trust, and winner of the RHS Children’s Choice Award, the garden honors Hill's belief in the importance of nature in everyone's life. It offers accessible sitting areas, wheelchair-friendly paths, and diverse habitats, promoting physical, mental, and social well-being.
The garden features a habitat hub, wildlife pond, and walkable stream, enhancing biodiversity while providing tranquil spaces for visitors. Sustainability is prioritized with native and non-native plants grown in peat-free soil, low carbon concrete, and reclaimed materials sourced locally. After the show, the garden will be relocated to Bridgemere Show Gardens in Cheshire, ensuring its legacy as a public green space welcoming to all.
Silver Gilt medal winner, People’s Choice Best Show Garden
Designed by: Ann-Marie Powell with the Blue Diamond Team
Built by: The Landscaping Consultants
Sponsored by: Blue Diamond Garden Centres, National Trust
The Ecotherapy Garden
The Ecotherapy Garden, designed by Tom Bannister and built by Wright Landscapes, earns praise for its blend of wellness and sustainability. As a Gold medal winner and Best Balcony/Container Garden, it offers a serene oasis reminiscent of a London courtyard. Inspired by biophilic principles and cold-plunge therapy, the garden features a Thames-yellow brick wall supporting a hanging green garden, surrounding a cold plunge pool enveloped in lush planting. Antique waterspouts feed a series of pools, creating a soothing soundscape.
Sustainability is prioritized with durable, homemade hyper-tufa containers made from a lightweight, sustainable recipe. After the show, the garden will be donated to a primary school, highlighting its commitment to sustainability and community impact.
Gold medal winner, Best Balcony / Container Garden
Designed by: Tom Bannister
Built by: Wright Landscapes
No Adults Allowed Garden
The RHS garden, designed by Harry Holding and built by Water Artisans, stands out for its child-centric approach and sustainable design elements. Designed by children for children, the garden offers a whimsical journey through lush woodland, meadows, and wetlands, culminating in a natural den set within a pool of water. It promotes access to nature for children, emphasizing immersive experiences and joyful exploration.
Sustainability is prioritized with the garden being cement and concrete-free, utilizing largely recycled materials such as deadwood from RHS Wisley, and employing natural materials only. The highly biodiverse and wildlife-friendly planting scheme enhances habitat provision. After the show, the garden will be relocated to Sulivans Primary School in Fulham, ensuring its legacy as a nurturing space for children to connect with nature.
Designed by: Harry Holding
Built by: Water Artisans
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023
Explore the blooming paradise of horticultural wonders at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, renowned as one of the world's most prestigious and captivating floral exhibitions, has once again opened its gates to unveil an exquisite array of gardens in the year 2023. Nestled in the heart of London, this year's showcases the finest craftsmanship, innovative designs, and the most captivating blooms the gardening world has to offer.
The RSPCA Garden Sanctuary Gardens
The RSPCA sanctuary garden is a lesson in wildlife-friendly design. Focused on changing perceptions on wildlife gardens. Showing a wildlife-supporting garden but it doesn’t have to be scruffy. But can be stylish and low-maintenance whilst still protecting and attracting wildlife.
The Sanctuary Garden aims to embrace nature's soothing and rejuvenating qualities In the design. Water has been incorporated through a magnificent water feature and pool constructed using recycled plastic. Water gracefully meanders through the garden, gently cascading into the pool, imbuing the entire space with a sense of serenity and calmness.
The garden features various small yet distinctive elements that showcase different aspects of nature. Among these are nesting boxes thoughtfully placed to support sparrows, which are experiencing a sharp decline due to nesting as a colony. Additionally, the garden incorporates bat boxes, hedging, and a canopy of native trees and shrubs that play a crucial role in supporting birds and wildlife. The planting follows a naturalistic approach, utilizing shades of green, whites, and blues, with a focus on pollinator-friendly plants.
For the hedging, Hornbeam has been carefully selected, not only for its aesthetic appeal but yo act as windbreaks to offer protection to butterflies. The garden's structure is enhanced by Yew cubes, providing year-round stability and offering refuge to birds seeking shelter from predators. The materials have been carefully selected to blend into the British landscape, using natural and vernacular materials such as Cotswold limestone, Yorkstone paving, and locally-sourced fir. The garden's two-storey wildlife hide is beautifully clad in Larch, seamlessly blending into its surroundings.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Martyn Wilson
Built by: Landscape Associates
Sponsored by Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
RBC Brewin Dolphin Show Garden
The RBC Brewin Dolphin Garden has been inspired by the way knowledge is passed down through generations and interpreted for the modern world. At its core, the garden's concept revolves around a young couple who have inherited the wisdom and expertise of their grandparents. They have skilfully crafted a garden that embodies their values of longevity, biodiversity, and a sustainable habitat for the future.
The carefully selected plants contribute to a biodiverse environment, enhancing air purification, while the strategic successional planting ensures the creation of potential habitats. Amongst the meticulously shaped hawthorn and hornbeam, an artisanal oak pavilion stands adorned with a custom metalwork roof. Poppies, aquilegias and meadow rue have been selected for beauty, food and biodiversity to demonstrate the sharing of horticultural knowledge through the generations. The pavilion is complemented by three exquisite porcelain sculptures, crafted by the talented Parisian ceramicist Gregory Tchalikian, symbolizing the expansion of knowledge and its impact on the mind.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Paul Hervey-Brookes
Built by: G K Wilson Landscapes
Sponsored by: RBC Brewin Dolphin
The RHS and Eastern Eye Garden of Unity Feature Garden
The RHS and Eastern Eye newspaper have come together, alongside garden designer Manoj Malde, who serves as the RHS' Ambassador for diversity and inclusivity, to craft a garden aimed at promoting horticulture for people of all backgrounds and in all places.
Drawing inspiration from his Indian heritage, Manoj has chosen a vibrant colour scheme of orange and pink, reminiscent of the bold and contrasting hues found in Indian saris worn by women. The garden features marigolds, which hold significance in Hindu worship, and showcases an arrangement of colourful spices and small oil lamps (diya), traditionally used during festivals and religious ceremonies.
Embracing his fashion background, Manoj celebrates the artisan skills of hand embroidery and embellishment from India, as well as acknowledging his African roots through the use of scatter cushions and a Kuba cloth. Bright hues and accessibility are at the heart of this garden illustrated through the colourful oil drums filled with ornamental and edible plants and bright posts featuring braille to tell the gardens story.
Sustainability takes centre stage in the garden's design, with a strong focus on peat-free planting and the integration of reclaimed materials. For instance, the garden's pathway is ingeniously constructed from recycled limestone slabs and fragments. Throughout the garden, bright posts are strategically placed, displaying sentences in braille. This symbolic gesture serves to emphasize that gardens and gardening are inclusive activities, open to all, regardless of race, color, creed, sexuality, or disability. It underscores the idea that gardening is a birthright accessible to every individual, promoting a sense of belonging, kindness, and humanity for all who partake in it.
Designed by: Manoj Malde
Built by: Gadd Brothers
Sponsored by: Royal Horticultural Society Eastern Eye
The Royal Entomological Society Show Garden
This garden will house the RHS Chelsea Flower Shows first insect laboratory, which will conduct live insect surveys throughout the show. The insect laboratory will be used to study insect numbers visiting the garden during the show, and project these insects onto a screen allowing visitors gain insight into the biodiversity created by planting. The gardens focal point is a large bright blue dome housing the insect laboratory, which is surrounded by pollinator friendly blooms in purples and pinks giving a insects eye view of a biodiverse garden.
The cleverly integrated lab blends naturally into the landscape of a hillside, invites visitors to experience the world from an 'insect's eye view' while offering a conducive space for study and research. Inspired by the compound eye of insects, the lab's unique roof structure reflects its purpose of real scientific inquiry, monitoring, and observation of the insects that frequent the garden.
The site's diverse topography features rammed earth floors, hoggin pathways, dead wood, rubble piles, bare sand, and gabion walls, creating a myriad of habitats for various insects. Still pools and flowing streams further enhance these vital habitats, adding an element of fascination to the garden's appearance and soundscape.
Artistic elements, such as a sculpted dead tree, segmented into rings and raised on steel poles, seemingly hovers above a biodiverse planting. Additionally, a standing dead tree and tree stump contribute to the sculptural habitat of the garden. The careful selection of plants caters to pollinators and a wide array of beneficial insects, crafting an attractive and resilient landscape that offers year-round nourishment, shelter, and intrigue.
Excitingly, once the show concludes, the garden will find a permanent home at IQL Stratford in East London. This relocation presents a long-term opportunity for education and ongoing insect research, ensuring that the garden's impact extends far beyond the show's duration.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Tom Massey
Built by: Landscape Associates
Sponsored by: Royal Entomological Society, Project Giving Back
The Folio Society’s Reading Room Balcony Garden
The Folio Society's Reading Room Garden offers a verdant retreat designed specifically for unwinding with a captivating book. Embracing the transformative power of literature, the garden seeks to create an enchanting ambiance that complements the pleasure of reading .Drought resistant planting in striking colours have been selected to create a peacefully and soothing area for reading and reflection.
Just outside the balcony doors, lush plants envelop the area, forming a peaceful green oasis. The addition of a gentle water feature provides a soothing white noise, effectively blocking out the hustle and bustle of the city beyond. Adjacent to this space, oak seating beckons visitors to relish the scenic view or engage in social interactions.
The back wall serves as a striking focal point, adorned with hand-crafted oak cobbles that were historically utilized in ink production from oak tree galls until the 20th century. Designed to be illuminated from behind, the wall casts intriguing shadows during dusk and night-time. Furthermore, a charming cut-out in the wall reminiscent of bookends adds to the garden's literary allure.
Promoting a tranquil ambiance free from the distractions of technology, this garden beautifully celebrates the significance of reading, both for enjoyment and as a means to enhance mental well-being. Its versatile design can cater to different household needs, accommodating families with young children learning to read, teenagers preparing for exams, busy professionals seeking solace after a taxing day, or retirees immersed in the pages of a captivating novel.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Katherine Holland
Built by: Phil Sutton Landscapes Ltd
Sponsored by: The Folio Society
The Shifting Garden by the Chelsea Gardener- Container Garden
This sustainable urban garden creates a natural feel thanks to the selection of stone hues and carefully selected drought resistant planting scheme creating a practical and relaxing retreat.
The garden is skilfully designed to make the most of the limited space typically found in urban settings, while also serving as a reflection of the shifting climate that is leading the UK towards dealing with extreme weather patterns.
A strong focus on sustainability permeates the entire garden, incorporating natural, bio-composite, and recycled materials. Welcoming visitors at the entrance is a majestic Albizia julibrissin tree, whose intricate canopy creates a feeling of being nestled in a protected sanctuary.
Along the borders, recycled plastic rod screens are strategically placed, representing the concept of water without the actual use of water. Standing against a dark backdrop, staggered containers made from hypertufa offer built-in seating, resembling natural stone in appearance. A strategically positioned mirror reflects the planting in the front bed, adding dimension to the garden's contours.
The garden, known as The Shifting Garden by the Chelsea Gardener, addresses the significant challenges that arose during the 2022 heat wave concerning the maintenance of British gardens. Its main purpose is to showcase a climate change-resistant planting scheme and demonstrate how such an approach can be integrated into an appealing and functional urban garden.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: The Chelsea Gardener
Rethink Gardena Trade Garden
The garden focuses on the importance of innovation and how new and recycled materials can be used to design stylish outdoor spaces that are environmentally friendly. Built on the foundation of the Circular R’s: Reduce, Repair, Recycle. Hoping to inspire gardeners to create and maintain green spaces, and use precious resources, such as water, wisely.
The garden has been designed in line with a circular plan and process in mind that ensures zero waste throughout the build and beyond, meaning all materials will be reused, recycled or donated post show. From materials used in construction, the staff, and the charities supported, every element of sustainability has been carefully considered.
The garden has a strong emphasis on growing your own food, one of the designers passions and an important practice for a sustainable life, the garden will showcase a social space to entertain friends and family. A planting scheme of edibles will be grown in innovative ways making the space not only functional but beautiful.
The materials used in the garden showcase an array of innovative brands looking to create a kinder economy and who utilise recycled materials. Combined with upcycled designs, skip finds and incorporating elements of rewilding and biodiversity with the garden. The design features walls built to incorporate huge bug hotels, planting of edibles and pollinating plants and clever water harvesting systems.
Designed by: Lynne Lambourne
Built by: Wayne Perrey, Boa Contractors.
RHS Heroines of Horticultural garden
An RHS commissioned garden celebrating women in horticulture with a traditional, cottage garden scheme. To fit the brief of cottage garden Pollyanna opted for Bothy, woven willow and cottage garden favourites. The planting is a garden of two halves - half full sun, half part shade - and the plants used are those readily available and happy in much of the UK
The garden design featured a bothy and traditional cottage garden plants and flowers, paying tribute to the women who shaped much of the development of horticulture as we know it today. Pollyanna has worked with all-female design and planting teams to usher her vibrant cottage planting from the ground up. From willow containers woven by Mollie McMillen of Field Farm rise specialist plants grown by women from Hare Spring Cottage Plants, Botanical Nursery and Claire Austin Hardy Plants.
Designed by: Pollyanna Wilkinson
The Restorative Balcony Garden
The Restorative Garden exemplifies the art of blending reclaimed elements with carefully chosen new materials, showcasing how to create an environmentally conscious space without sacrificing aesthetics or quality.
The thoughtful selection of plants aims to entice pollinators and birds, inviting them into the garden. Fragrant trees, climbers, and herbs provide a delightful sensory experience for visitors. Adding to the ambiance, a water table serves both as a birdbath and a source of soothing sounds for meditation. Reclaimed teak is utilized for practical purposes, including shelving, a simple pergola, and comfortable lounge chairs that offer a perfect vantage point from the balcony.
At the entrance and along the rear wall, salvaged terracotta planters with their unique patina and texture enhance the garden's charm. As dusk descends, soft lighting gracefully illuminates the foliage, transforming the entire space into a magical oasis. The garden serves as a haven for relaxation, rejuvenation, and restoration, providing visitors with a tranquil escape from the demands of everyday life.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Christina Cobb
Built by: Garden Club London
Sponsored by: Viking
The School Food Matters Garden
The garden offers an engaging and interactive natural landscape, inviting children to explore and discover a diverse array of edible and climate-adapted plants. Child-sized paths enable young adventurers to let their imagination roam freely as they wander among the plants, climb over boulders, and witness the various elements of food production. Tactile earth walls, reflective water features, pollinator-attracting flowers, and light-capturing grasses enhance the sensory experience along the way.
Within the serene surroundings, vibrant ribbons of colourful flowers intersect the calming textural planting, leading to a tranquil space where children can share their thoughts on food and climate change through direct quotes artfully displayed on the central wall. The central pond is surrounded by purple and orange hues. All plants in the garden are edible allowing children to discover and engage with the planting as they meander through the miniature winding paths.
The garden's underlying message emphasizes the importance of nutritious food, a healthy planet, and access to nature as fundamental rights that every child deserves. Once the show concludes, the garden will be relocated to serve as a valuable educational resource for school children, ensuring its lasting impact on inspiring future generations.
Silver Gilt medal winner
People’s Choice Best Sanctuary / All About Plants
Designed by: Harry Holding
Built by: Landscape Associates
Sponsored by School Food Matters, Project Giving Back
Horatio’s Garden
Horatio's Garden serves as a haven of solace and optimism, aligning with the Horatio's Garden charity's mission to establish and maintain beautiful, accessible gardens in NHS spinal injuries centres.
The garden splendidly embodies the distinctive qualities of these special spaces, while also incorporating elements inspired by the Sheffield region, establishing a strong connection to its future permanent location at the Princess Royal Spinal Injuries Centre in Sheffield.
Designed to be an immersive and rejuvenating retreat, this garden stands in stark contrast to a clinical hospital environment. It takes into consideration the unique perspectives of patients, whether they are viewing it from their beds or wheelchairs.
Tactile stone cairns lend rhythm and structure, while the presence of water adds sensory experiences throughout the garden. An organic garden pod offers a comforting space for physical and emotional respite. Additionally, a carved stone serves as a tribute to Horatio Chapple, whose life inspired the creation of all Horatio's Gardens.
Drawing inspiration from the flora of the wooded valleys that historically provided essential timber for the forges and furnaces of Sheffield, the garden features thoughtfully chosen shrubs. These selections, such as Rosa mutabilis, Hydrangea petiolaris in shrub form, and Aruncus 'Horatio,' offer extended seasonal interest and are an integral part of every Horatio's Garden.
Gold medal winner, Best Show Garden
Designed by: Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg
Built by: Ryan Alexander Associates
Sponsored by: Horatio's Garden, Project Giving Back
The Platform Garden
The Platform Garden draws its inspiration from disused overground platforms in London, envisioning a futuristic garden platform with a strong emphasis on community-led gardening and education. Combining the man made and natural, full of edibles and an earthy coloured planting scheme of green, browns and burgundy's.
The garden specifically targets key areas where additional green infrastructure can be integrated. It emphasizes the significance of incorporating vegetation in transportation spaces to promote biodiversity, collect rainwater, capture carbon, and enhance the well-being of people.
Taking cues from the design elements found in train platforms, the garden features a section reminiscent of this public space. Graphic retro tiles, recycled concrete litter bins repurposed as planters, and reclaimed paving materials are among the elements creatively utilized.
The ultimate aspiration for the garden is to inspire everyone, regardless of the size of their spaces, to cultivate their own plants and produce. It encourages individuals to engage with their communities, fostering a sharing of horticultural knowledge among neighbours and beyond.
Silver Gilt medal winner
Designed by: Amelia Bouquet and Emilie Bausager
Built by: Andrew Jackson Gardens
Sponsored by: Energy Garden
The Nurture Landscapes Garden
The garden draws its ambiance and creative influence from the captivating paintings of Cedric Morris and the collection of plants he cultivated and bred at Benton End, Hadleigh. Cedric gained renown for his skill in both breeding and painting bearded iris, nurturing a remarkable variety of around 1000 new seedlings annually and producing over 90 distinct named varieties.
To frame views within the garden and offer glimpses beyond, climbers are gracefully supported by reclaimed timber and cordage. A sense of a partially reclaimed and untamed space is conveyed through the presence of saplings, grasses, and distinctive trees. The colour scheme, reminiscent of watercolour paintings, features plums, mauves, olive yellows, and creamy browns, creating a unique and memorable palette.
The surroundings of Benton End, with their sixteenth-century origins crafted using traditional methods, have served as a source of inspiration for the garden's contemporary approach, incorporating locally sourced and sustainable materials.
Gold medal winner
Designed by: Sarah Price
Built by: Crocus Ltd
Sponsored by: Nurture Landscapes
London Square Community Garden
The origins of this garden trace back to London-wide Open Gardens Weekend in 2022 when London Square, the event sponsors, drew inspiration from the volunteers at the Doddington Estate in Battersea. These volunteers had successfully created a thriving half-acre community garden using donated trees, shrubs, perennials, and edibles, nestled amidst towering buildings, forming a green oasis.
Uniting the community lies at the heart of this garden's concept, providing a space where people can come together, unwind, share food, and connect with nature. A welcoming meeting area is situated beneath a pergola, complete with an outdoor kitchen and a large communal table featuring chess and draughts boards. The garden's character is further enhanced by individually styled upcycled chairs crafted by The Repair Shop's Jay Blades furniture restorers. Raised beds are thoughtfully planted with edible crops, contributing to the garden's sense of community and self-sufficiency.
A serene planted section houses a generously sized swing seat, dappled in soothing shade, creating an idyllic setting for conversations or reading books from the garden bookcase. The garden also boasts fragrant plants like climbing Trachelospermum jasminoides, rosemary, thyme, salvias, Erigeron karvinskianus, and Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress,' chosen for their resilience and beauty.
True to its roots, after the event, some elements of the London Square Community Garden will find a new home at the Doddington & Rollo Community Roof Garden in Battersea, reaffirming London Square's dedication to promoting green spaces for local communities.
Gold medal winner
Designed by: James Smith
Built by: The Landscaping Consultants
Sponsored by: London Square
