It's hard to know where to begin when you're surrounded by so many world class gardens in one place. RHS Chelsea is a feast for the senses and paradise for a garden lover.
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With the RHS handing out their medals, and the excitement of Best Show Garden being announced and the People's Choice Award opening soon, the Gardens Illustrated team have been deciding on their own favourites. Do you agree? Let us know what your favourites were on Facebook, Instagram or X.
The Hospitalfield Arts Garden, designed by Nigel Dunnett
Chosen by editor Stephanie Mahon
There were a few gardens that caught my eye this year, including the Wildlife Trusts' evocation of a temperate British rainforest with waterfall, bluebells, foxgloves and ferns. Having spent time on and looking at the Avanade Intelligent Garden, I found so much to admire there too. But if I were to vote on initial gut feeling, I would have to admit to instant delight at seeing Nigel Dunnett’s Hospitalfield Arts Garden. Those sandy mounds with their timber fins, treated to look like Corten steel (and steal that idea I will), were not only visually arresting and interesting, but enabled a range of habitats for different plants and were inspiring for those of us gardening on slopes. It made me want to go back to the Gower for some sand dune botanising asap, and to have a sparky little artist’s hut on my own plot. Graphic, structural and quite fun – I just liked it all.
SongBird Survival Garden, designed by Nicola Oakey
Chosen by commissioning content editor Veronica Peerless
Nigel Dunnett's Hospitalfield Arts garden was my 'instant favourite' large show garden, and I was also really impressed by the Avanade Intelligent Garden, but as ever I was drawn to the smaller gardens - I find it inspiring to see just how much can be crammed into a small space. There was tons of inspiration in the Garden of the Future (not least the revolutionary loo that produces biochar) and I loved the SongBird Survival garden as I like a wilder look. I was really taken by some of the plants, including the pink dandelion, Crepis rubra, and the dusky pink Semiaquilegia ecalarata.
And of course, the garden shines a spotlight on the alarming decline of the UK's songbirds (the last five decades have witnessed a 50% reduction in their numbers) and how gardeners can help them. As the CEO of SongBird Survival, Susan Morgan, told me: 'The garden is the solution'. She explained how the garden contains the three essentials for birds - shelter, food and water - while also giving them a ‘bird’s eye’ view that helps them feel safe, and highways such as yew hedges to help them navigate the garden. It certainly made me think about my own garden and how I can improve it for our beleaguered and beautiful songbirds. I really need to include some shallow water where birds can drink and bathe, and surely I can fit in a small Cratageus persimilis 'Prunifolia' tree somewhere?...
Cha No Niwa - Japanese Tea Garden, designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara
Chosen by art director David Grenham
For my Best in Show, I was torn between Nigel Dunnett’s sand dunes and Kazuyuki Ishihara’s Cha No Niwa – Japanese Tea Garden, which ultimately gets my vote. It was an oasis of calm and tranquillity in the midst of the bustle and noise of Chelsea Press day. The craftmanship is evident in every element - from the placement of each stone, tree, and plant, through to the traditional tea house with a thatched roof, which served as the garden’s focal point. No detail is too small. A stone tied with string, placed quietly on the path, brought its own moment of reflection for me – and was worth Gold in itself.
The ADHD Foundation Garden, designed by Kate Terry
Chosen by content assistant Alice Tuffery
It was the rusted metal umbrellas suspended from the branches of a uniquely curving hornbeam tree that first drew my attention to this All About Plants ADHD Foundation garden designed by Katy Terry. The umbrella shape, a symbol of neurodiverse inclusivity, features throughout the space, which is inspired by Katy’s own ADHD diagnosis. In the planting, which includes unusual plants as a nod to human individuality, you can spot umbellifers and clusters of smaller flowers forming an umbrella-like canopy.
One feature that seemed to get everyone talking - despite being easy to miss at first glance - are the climbing hydrangeas at the back. While four of the five grow against the woven fence panels, the fifth on the far left is self-supporting, representing the estimated one in five people living with neurodiversity.
I also loved the glass-like central reflection pool, complete with lush planting peeking out from underneath and flanked by a curved bench inviting you to sit, unwind and contemplate.
The Killik & Co. Save For a Rainy Day Garden designed by Baz Grainger
Chosen by deputy art editor Niki Goss
The smaller show gardens were really strong this year, but it was Baz Grainger’s Save For A Rainy Day garden that had me returning time after time to immerse myself in its atmosphere. Designed to represent a family garden in the south of England coping with a changing climate over the next 25 years, it cleverly incorporates water harvesting into a fabulous, cantilevered pergola made from horizontal wooden troughs to catch water, suspended from a 3D printed concrete and steel structure. The runoff filters down into a series of stone ponds and a waterfall to a flood zone, creating movement and a tranquil soundscape.
The garden features drought-tolerant and flood-resilient planting, a creative mixture of Mediterranean and cottage garden styles. The colour palette was what really captivated me, with earthy tones of terracotta and rust in the hard landscaping and furnishings, harmonising with the cinnamon-coloured bark of the Pinus and Prunus trees, and the soft apricot tones of the foxgloves, Iceland poppies and Geum ‘Mai Thai’, all offset with sprinklings of pastel-blue from irises and perennial flax. For me, this garden shows that adaptability to climate change, coping with the now almost inevitable extremes of drought and flood, gardens of the future can be both innovatively designed and beautiful.
C6, designed by Joshua Fenton
Chosen by digital editor Daisy Bowie-Sell
I was entranced by lots of the gardens this year, particularly Nigel Dunnett's Hospitalfield Arts Garden, and Jo Thompson's beautiful Glasshouse Garden, but when it came to choosing my favourite, I surprised myself and plumped for a small Balcony and container garden, C6.
This vibrant space had so much happening within its 149 square metres. I loved how the planting spilled out from containers and onto seating, making the garden feel a little unruly, just like a wild space. The trees within it (an apple and hazel) offered a perfect amount of shade (something I am increasingly appreciating in gardens) and the chance for sun too. But not only was the garden beautiful and transporting, it also did something remarkable: it demonstrated how even the tiniest of places, even the tiniest of acts, can make a difference. The garden was all about recycling and water sequestration: C6 sequesters 1200kg+ carbon, as well as providing storage for 450L of rainwater.
I'm not the only one who loved it - my Mum reported back that it was one of her favourites (without me having said a thing) and Jamie Butterworth declared 'people will love it' in the BBC's coverage on Tuesday night. A little jewel, with so much to be inspired by.
The Glasshouse Garden, designed by Jo Thompson
Chosen by production editor Juliet Giles
If this really is to be Jo Thompson’s last Chelsea – and let’s hope someone can persuade her to change her mind – then her Glasshouse Garden for social enterprise The Glasshouse, which helps women in prison rebuild their lives through horticultural training, is a magnificent swan song. Packed with plants in Jo’s signature romantic style, this is a garden that is undeniably feminine, but with a colour palette that underlines its theme of strong beauty.
Roses, the real stars of the show, come not in sugary pinks but in bold shades from the rich reds of Rosa Wild Rover (= 'Dichirap') and Rosa 'Tuscany Superb' to the deep pink of Rosa Emma Bridgewater (= ‘Ausb44a16’), and mingle with an intricate mix of textural planting, including the lovely Aquilegia atrata, ornamental cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing', Beth’s poppy (Papaver dubium subsp. lecoqii 'Albiflorum') and flowering shrub Deutzia x hybrida ‘Strawberry Fields’, that emphasise notions of female strength and resilience.
It’s a truly sensory garden filled with scent and colour and the calming sound of water, and one in which I could happily spend many hours. After the show the women in HMP Downview will get the chance to spend time in it both as a sanctuary and a place to learn new skills that offer the chance to imagine a second chance. Jo has said how in designing the garden she was inspired by the idea of strong women helping other women who haven’t had the opportunity to grow that strength. It’s wonderful notion, and a wonderful garden.
