L-R: The Bat Conservation Trust’s Nocturnal Garden by Melanie Hick; Alzheimer’s Society: Microbes and Minds Garden by Tina Worboys and The Whittard of Chelsea Garden by Ollie Pike
A further fifteen RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens have been unveiled in the All About Plants and Balcony and Container categories, homing in on how smaller spaces can assist in the conservation of local wildlife at home, while also highlighting how our gardens can provide excellent spaces for developing our passions, interests and improving our own physical health.
In the All About Plants category, the Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden by Ashleigh Aylett will indicate to visitors how ancient woodlands are at a critical juncture for recovery. The garden will feature a transitional zone where conifers give way to a diverse, naturally regenerating woodland with incredible biodiversity, demonstrating how ancient woodlands can re-emerge from plantation sites with careful stewardship.
Showing how easy it is to grow plants that attract prey essential to bats’ diets, Melanie Hick is designing The Bat Conservation Trust’s Nocturnal Garden. Naturalistic planting will encourage small insects that bats feast on after dark, encouraging bats to enjoy gardens at night while we enjoy them in the day. ‘The Bat’ percolates to every part of the garden, including colour and shape, and even the rear boundary of the garden will be made to come apart and made into bat boxes on relocation.
Charlie Chase is looking to inspire young people and offer a restorative, purposeful community space at a time of youth mental health emergency with their YoungMinds Garden. Framed by a habitat wall that is made from stone offcuts, the garden offers enclosure whilst promoting an ecological approach to garden creation. Plant diversity throughout the garden reflects the range of experiences young people bring.
The Plant Heritage Missing Collector Garden by Sally-Anne Rees, Kate Campbell and William Murray is inspired by the idea of “The Missing Collector”; a mysterious plant enthusiast who has left behind an extraordinary plant collection. Jewel-toned plants set within lush green foliage offer visitors a rare glimpse into this treasured botanical collection while an unoccupied chair invites visitors to imagine themselves in the role of collector and guardian.
Seeking to inspire visitors to separate from technology and return to hobbies to nourish minds and wellbeing, Cleary Gottlieb: Time for Creativity by Christina Cobb creates a softer landscaped garden. A walkthrough glasshouse stocked with books, paints, papers and fabrics welcomes visitors, travelling through into a peaceful seating area with vibrant planting and seating in which they can carry out these activities.
The Balcony and Container Gardens category will also explore how our gardens can be both passions for nature and other personal interests. Featuring The Seasalt Painted Garden by Lynn James – taking from mid-century modern artists known as the St Ives School, the garden is set within a courtyard adjoining an artist’s studio. Blending bold colours with recycled materials, the garden echoes artists’ need for ingenuity and resourcefulness.
For its 140th birthday, The Whittard of Chelsea Garden by Ollie Pike will join nature and tea together to create a perfect sanctuary set in a Chelsea courtyard. Rich in fragrance and colour, the planting features many of the ingredients used in Whittard infusions. Also taking inspiration from a popular drink and taking its name from the liquid lost to evaporation during whisky aging, Fettercairn: The Angels’ Share by May Starey, features grassland that moves to woodland across the balcony around a flexible space designed for sharing, reminiscent of Fettercairn’s home in the Cairngorms.
A Little Garden of Shared Knowledge sponsored by Viking by Katerina Kantalis has been thoughtfully designed for a well-travelled, retired creative couple. Serving as both a private sanctuary and a welcoming space for friends and family to share a love of gardening, with a curated selection of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruit arranged within a compact layout. The Transient Garden by Rebecca Lloyd Jones centres on flexibility and adaptability. This reflects the increasingly temporary and mobile nature of modern living, all elements are modular, lightweight, and designed to be moved by two people.
Focussing on how gardens can be used in aiding rehabilitation, the Alzheimer’s Society: Microbes and Minds Garden by Tina Worboys is inspired by the rural orchards of Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The garden tells the story of apple cider vinegar and its gut health benefits. At the centre of the garden is an apple tree representing ‘The Mother’ – a naturally occurring bacteria formed during fermentation. Inclusion, accessibility and belonging are the key themes of the The Sightsavers Garden: we start with sight but we don’t stop there by Peter Karn, Janice Molyneux and Sarah Fisher. Natural materials, multi-sensory planting and a central wheelchair turning circle welcome all visitors, inviting them to slow down, pause, connect; and to imagine a more inclusive and sustainable world.
Inspired by the designers’ love of British hedgerows, and concern for their decline, Hedgerow in the Sky – Tech Mahindra by Sarah Mayfield and Monika Greenhough invites visitors to notice local wildlife and nurture biodiversity. Featuring a backdrop made of Shou Sugi Ban, an ancient Japanese wood preservation technique, the urban balcony creates a dark and striking shape with layered planting that mimics the structure of hedgerows. From the sky to the water, Kennedys’ Independent Property Agents: Tales from the Riverbank Balcony Garden by Susie Kennedy and Kate Henning imagines a balcony as a fully functioning garden set on a floating home. As more people take to longboat living, the garden features a dipping tank, cooking area and edible plants on the boat roof.
Finally, Flood Re: Contain the Rain Garden by John Howlett is an urban inner-city garden inspired by traditional Persian, Moorish and Islamic design. Offering a tranquil space that sees sustainable and practical water management, the lush planting will keep the garden cool in hotter temperatures and the permeable surfaces with water storage will help manage excess rainwater.
Project Giving Back, the unique grant-giving charity that supports gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea, is supporting four of this year’s All About Plants Gardens.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 19-23 May 2026 and tickets are available online at rhs.org.uk/chelsea.
Source press office RHS
