Chelsea Flower Show is an opportunity for Hampshire to show off its horticultural talent.
There’s Show Gardens, All About Plants Gardens, Great Pavilion exhibits and some great trade stands!
Two Hampshire nurseries (Hortus Loci and Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants) are supplying several categories of gardens this year, including Main Avenue Show Gardens:
The Avanade ‘Intelligent’ Garden, RHS Chelsea’s first garden with embedded AI, will showcase cutting-edge technology for urban garden management. An AI assistant, which will act as a copilot to the gardening team, will continuously monitor factors like soil moisture, pH, temperature, air quality, wind, and rainfall through a network of sensors. This data will power a dynamic digital model of the garden, revealing trends, tracking changes, and predicting future conditions, enabling proactive, resource-efficient care.
Visitors can explore this technology through an innovative pavilion made from sustainable mycelium panels and interact with the garden via a digital twin. The AI will enable both visitors at the show and those engaging remotely to interact with the garden and ask questions like “how are you feeling?” or “what do you need?” – with responses coming directly from the garden, based on live data feeds, to see how AI guides the garden’s health.
To coincide with Avanade’s 25th and Microsoft’s 50th anniversaries, the garden will have generative AI organically woven into the design using data from sensors to help people evolve and adapt the garden using sustainable design principles. Live data produced throughout the build and the show will help the tool grow its own learning capabilities while offering the potential to help this and other gardens to flourish.
Hard landscaping in the garden will be crafted from recycled and repurposed materials, demonstrating that beautiful landscapes can be created without relying on unsustainable virgin resources. This approach aims to inspire visitors to incorporate more recycled materials into their own gardens, promoting sustainability in their outdoor spaces.
The mycelium pavilion at the rear of the garden is constructed from timber cassettes made of ash wood, planed from diseased felled trees. The building will be clad with wood pulp panels infused with mycelium, creating biodegradable, low-impact materials that repurpose waste and utilise natural processes. These textured panels are both sustainable to produce and aesthetically appealing, with a textural, organic patina. The pavilion is designed to blend into the garden’s boundaries without dominating the space, while its interior provides a sheltered area where visitors can interact with the AI technology, displaying data and providing protection from the elements. Esteemed furniture maker Sebastian Cox will fabricate and install the mycelium pavilion.
In keeping with the concept of a naturally resilient garden space, the planting is based on a forest garden concept, mimicking the layers of a natural forest and providing an array of edible, medical or useful plants. The garden will also include an edible mushroom growing area.
The forest garden is filled with trees and shrubs that have some kind of productive use, for example, Juglans regia ‘Purpurea’ for edible walnuts, or Toona sinensis ‘Flamingo’ with its pink onion-flavoured leaves. Forest gardens are more resilient than traditional rowed out productive growing, providing a biodiverse mix of species. The forest garden will be densely planted with a woodland feel, moving out into the more open woodland edge and swale areas which will be brighter and more colourful with an array of resilient plant species. On the green roof of the mycelium pavilion, perennials, ferns and grasses reflect the soft woodland planting theme.
The inspiration for this garden comes from the parallels that can be drawn between the environment and plant communities of the Mediterranean’s mountainous regions with those of County Durham in North West England.
This creates a planting palette that demonstrates how a beautiful but climate-resilient planting scheme can be achieved.
The garden will feature rendered walls to represent the ancient walled city of Durham, but also the Mediterranean feel of local ‘Olive Houses’ in Mallorca. Boulders emulate the rocky moors surrounding Durham and the Olive Houses landscape and a sinuous ‘Together Bench’, inspired by the meandering River Wear, will form a visually impressive element to the garden whilst also linking to the North West’s boatbuilding heritage.
Hospice UK requires that a garden should be accessible for all, with a strong connection to the natural world and regional familiarity. There should be a variety of spaces to satisfy different needs so that a garden can be used by patients, families, the bereaved, those in respite care and hospice staff. The layout, design and planting of this garden all respond to the needs of an outdoor space for a hospice, with full accessibility for a patient in a bed to be able to experience every area of the garden.
After the show the garden will relocate to St Cuthbert’s Hospice, Durham.
Planting is inspired by mountainous parts of the Mediterranean, with a naturalistic feel that brings in colour, fragrance, interesting bark and wildlife. Natural clay render will soften the walls, while the selection of trees, shrubs, herbs, perennials and annuals will further the calming visual appearance. Trees include Platanus orientalis (oriental plane), Cercis siliquastrum (Judas trees) and a range of Mediterranean shrubs such as Phillyrea angustifolia, Arbutus × andrachnoides and myrtle.
The Glasshouse Garden celebrates the transformative effect of second chances through horticulture. It embodies the sense of purpose, self-belief and hope The Glasshouse programme offers to women as they approach the end of their prison sentences, through a programme of horticultural training, employment and resettlement support.
The garden is an immersive space centred around a translucent elliptical pavilion emerging from the foliage. Informed by conversations with women who’ve been through the programme, the garden is full of sensory delights including jewel-like colours, fragrant plants and the sound of water. A narrow rill winds its way through the space connecting different areas and ending in a tranquil pool. The planting is rich and full of texture and includes beautiful river birch trees, ferns, grasses and roses.
Visitors to the show will be drawn to the elliptical pavilion at the centre of the garden, designed in collaboration with award-winning architects Hollaway Studio. The uplifting structure is a space for the women to gather – for meetings, training and planning for the future. The pavilion has a series of pivoting screens made from recycled acrylic which open like petals and are given a touch of jewel-like enhancement to compliment the colour palette of the planting in the garden.
Relocation of the garden will be to a women’s prison in South East England.
The planting colours are inspired by the notion of ‘strong beauty’ in a palette of deep reds, muted pinks with highlights of other shades and tones to create one of Jo Thompson’s unique colour palettes.
The garden includes many fabulous roses, which form the basis of the colour scheme. ‘Tuscany Superb’ is one of the studio’s favourite roses and has a beautiful rich magenta-red colour. ‘Charles de Mills’ is an old rose, chosen for its deep crimson-purple colouring. EMMA BRIDGEWATER is a new David Austin rose which moves through pinks, mauves and corals and is beautifully fragrant.
There are Fagus sylvatica domes (cultivars from the Atropurpurea Group), which give a contrast in form and create structure, a dark leaved Bergenia, and some large, statuesque Angelica archangelica. Betula nigra give height to balance the pavilion structure, their light canopies allow light to filter through and create a feeling of being nestled within nature without feeling too enclosed. Their bark has a wonderful texture and picks up on the peachy/apricot colours in the scheme. Astrantia ‘Burgundy Manor’ will be a key plant, with the deep burgundy colour flowing through the garden.
A place to be… is exactly what this garden has been designed for. It’s not a playground but a healing space where children affected by cancer can be themselves, away from doctors, worried parents and their own fears. Children with Cancer UK engages in research to develop safer, kinder and more effective childhood cancer therapies.
With a monorail, nest and pool, and creative planting of trees, shrubs, grasses and perennials, the garden is a place to be happy, carefree, reflective, healed, refreshed, renewed and grounded by the natural world. This garden can be both fun and peaceful. Stepping into the garden, children can either take the monorail or a more contemplative meandering path – both leading to the safe refuge of the garden’s nest. This luxury of choice is something the children are not used to, because of the rigours and routine of their treatment.
The pool is a playful distraction along the path and can also be seen from the monorail, while the nest is a space to renew energy and relax. It is made of clear acrylic and wrapped in steamed hazel, so the children can peep out into the garden and feel slightly hidden. The trees, while also being good for wildlife, have also been chosen carefully. Birch are graceful but very hardy, like the children; foliage from yew is harvested for its anti-cancer compounds; hornbeam is a symbol of strength and tonics made from its leaves and bark cure fatigue and exhaustion.
A space for all, but especially children, this garden will have zones of different atmospheres created by plants. To evoke calm and healing, plants of green and white (Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’, Dryopteris wallichiana, Sesleria autumnalis) plus those with structure and texture such as ferns and hostas (Hosta ‘Guacamole’) have been chosen. To elevate carefreeness and splashes of fun, plants with deep pinks and burgundy flowers (Rosa ‘Emma Bridgewater’, Allium ‘Forelock’, Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’) are mixed with textured grasses (Stipa tenuissima and Sesleria autumnalis).
The planting list also includes medicinal thyme, fennel, savory and oregano which have antioxidant and inflammatory properties, and sage which encourages healing.
Inspired by the work that the Pathway charity does to support people out of homelessness, The Pathway Garden has an open design plan, with no dead ends.
A central feature is the mycelium wall, grown specifically for this garden to represent nature’s networks and pathways below the ground, like the sustainable care networks the charity helps create.
A sheltered woodland of semi-mature trees and naturalistic planting within a stylised contemporary space, the garden envelops its visitors in nature and creates an immersive, therapeutic and restorative experience. The message for all is ‘nature does not judge us.’
Interconnecting spaces linked by paths represent the charity’s mission of facilitating ‘pathways’ of opportunity and a route to equitable change. Boulders intersect to illustrate that the journey out of homelessness often features obstacles, and the mycelium network represents the hidden networks or safety nets that Pathway provide. The bench and pergola offer a sheltered resting place, with a water feature providing a tranquil opportunity for reflection.
The Pathway Garden will be relocated to the Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, the location of one of Pathway’s specialist homeless healthcare teams.
An understory of green foliage evokes the cool woodland feeling while muted whites, butter yellow and pink add soft colour. Shade tolerant grasses add texture and seed heads provide contrast to larger leaved herbaceous plants.
Alder and hazel are the main structural planting chosen for their relevance to woodlands and their compatibility with the soil of the relocation site.
The garden takes its inspiration from the location of Hospitalfield Arts, a contemporary arts centre in Arbroath on the east coast of Scotland, with its continuous soft, fragile and precious sand dune landscape. The design creates an outdoor arts studio and workspace, a setting for art practice, exhibitions, teaching and performance, and a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can come to learn, to practice, and to make.
The studio is set in a beautiful and resilient garden with dramatic dune topography and evocative coastal planting, which by its nature is resilient to different climates and weather. Like sand dunes, all the planting is established in sand, reflecting the current horticultural interest in using mineral materials such as sands and gravels instead of ‘perfect soil’ to support dry-adapted planting, retain moisture and help with weed control. A dune pool collects rain water from the studio and surrounding dunes, showing how water works in a landscape.
The garden highlights the great urgency to nurture the creative health of people and aims to raise the profile of arts education at a time when it is under threat. Hospitalfield Arts supports artists in their working lives and at all stages of their careers, inspiring young people especially, to be confident that the arts have an essential place in our world.
The garden will live on at Ladyloan Primary School, situated virtually on the beach in Arbroath, Scotland, where it can be adapted to suit their needs.
A highly textured evergreen framework of trees and shrubs encloses the garden. Multi-stemmed Arbutus unedo with striking red bark and wonderfully contorted junipers form the woody planting at a lower level, with taller knarled Scots pine trees and narrow-leaved mock privet forming a backdrop. Swathes of dune grasses mingle with drifts of colourful herbaceous plants, with mainly pink, blue and purple flowers.
The two Hampshire nurseries are also supplying designers in this category:
This garden has been inspired by the Loch Craignish landscape, on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Craignish is part of a rich and dynamic marine environment, with clear waters that support a diverse range of life, from otters and dolphins to the native oysters and seagrass (Zostera marina) that the charity is dedicated to rewilding.
The garden has a distinctly coastal atmosphere, with sandstone rocky outcrops, a saltwater pool and a pebble beach. These outcrops create distinct planting zones, which range from a bog to elevated freer draining soils. A sandstone step path leads to an informal rocky seating area, where visitors can admire the ‘flowing’ seagrass sculpture that connects the land-based garden with the saltwater pool. The pool has been planted with seagrass, our only native plant in the ocean, and a viewing window at the front of the garden will give a glimpse into this underwater planting.
This will be the first RHS Chelsea garden to be partially relocated to the ocean floor. The seagrass used at RHS Chelsea will be grown by The Ocean Conservation Trust, with seeds sourced from seagrass meadows on the south coast of England. After the show concludes, this seagrass will be planted on the sea floor in England, extending existing meadows. The garden itself will be relocated on the west coast of Scotland at Loch Craignish, home to Seawilding.
The garden is exclusively using plants native to the west coast of Scotland, such as Trollius europaeus, a native wildflower of the Scottish wet meadows, that is facing national decline, and ‘String sedge’ (Carex chordorrhiza), which can be found in only three locations in Scotland.
The colour scheme of the garden is predominantly purple with yellow accents and the garden will feature native edibles like cowberry and bilberry.
The ADHD Foundation Garden is a rich sensory space and has been designed to provide neurodivergent individuals with a sense of relief. Visitors to the garden can immerse themselves in this calm, yet stimulating environment, and give their minds a respite from the intensity of the outside world.
This will be a richly layered environment, filled with a diverse range of unique trees, shrubs and plants that represent the individuality of those with neurodivergent conditions, centred around a sculpture symbolic of a reflection pool. The pool invites contemplation of both human and botanical individuality, and sits beneath a vibrant hanging umbrella, a symbol of neurodiverse inclusion. The garden will further reiterate this symbol of neuro-inclusivity with the umbellifer family of plants placed throughout the garden at a range of heights.
After the show, the garden will be recreated at Liverpool University.
The blend of planting utilised in this design has been chosen to reflect the garden’s theme of ‘thinking differently’. Earthy natural tones and organic textures are integrated with more colourful planting and uncommon plant varieties to reflect the beauty of diversity. For example, the garden will feature Clematis ‘New Love’, a shrub form of clematis chosen to subvert people’s expectations as clematis is typically considered as a climbing plant. Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’ also features for its abnormalities in its stem or flower creation, as it is a genetic mutation of the plant’s growing tip.
Centred around the narrative of a bird’s daily experience, The SongBird Survival Garden has been designed to illustrate how three elements – shelter, water and food – are vital to birds’ lives. Designed with children in mind, this garden is a playful and immersive space, to explore and connect with the fascinating lives of songbirds.
The movement and perspective of a bird has been reflected in the planting, as two pathways weave between the layered naturalistic planting, mimicking how birds prefer to move through a network of cover. The garden takes the visitor on a bird’s journey, foraging for food and water whilst moving between points of safety and shelter.
At the centre of the garden is a birdhouse den, made from reclaimed materials and featuring six hand-crafted metalwork motifs of threatened UK songbirds. A circular pond provides shallow water for birds to drink and bathe in.
The garden will be recreated at the Alf Marshall Community Centre in Bransholme, Hull in East Yorkshire. The centre is run by a charity called Neighbourhood Network, which aims to support and empower people to create safer and healthier environments in which to live and work.
The garden features bird-friendly planting with natural sources of food, nesting material and shelter. A soft, countryside-inspired palette of plants, this herbaceous planting scheme includes low growing fruiting plants, such as Rubus arcticus and Fragaria vesca, and seed-producing flowers such as teasels and Centaurea. Grasses provide year-round cover, and their dried leaves are often used by birds to create their nests.
In this amazing floral tent you’ll find two Hampshire Exhibitors:
Sparsholt College (GPB018) and New Forest Hostas and Hemerocallis (GPE073).
Sparsholt College will stage The Ugly Bug Ball Garden to celebrate the unsung heroes of the garden world. The design and concept takes inspiration from the Royal Entomological Society’s book ‘RES Insects: Discover the Science and Secrets Behind the World of Insects’. Written by a team of leading entomologists from around the world, including Dr Claire Cresswell – PHD, MSc, BSc (Hons), ‘Wildlife Ecology and Conservation’ and ‘Agriculture’ lecturer at University Centre Sparsholt, the book is a fascinating deep-dive into the world of insects in their endlessly varied and beautiful forms.
Look out for:
