Chelsea must be a hard drug to give up. Many designers have publicly retired from the show, proclaiming this will be their final show garden, their last go – no, really, honestly, done; let’s give the next generation a chance etc, etc – only to reappear within a few years with a new sponsor and renewed ambition to go out on top, preferably with a Gold medal and a nice Best Show Garden plaque with their name on it.
This year sees the return of two goliaths of the form, Tom Stuart-Smith and Sarah Eberle, both giving us public gardens where people can connect with nature and each other in an urban setting. Sarah’s
community-focused garden has a large form in the shape of a woman, made from a carved tree trunk, and many native plants as well as garden escapees all mingling together. Hers is one of the only main, large show gardens to really clearly reference a wilder aesthetic. The naturescape trend was widespread at the show a few years ago, but it seems now many designers have retreated back to a, if not formal, certainly more legible and structured look of gardens that are very obviously gardens, and not artistic evocations of landscapes.
The latest news from Chelsea 2026
- RHS Chelsea Flower Show to be sponsored by Range Rover in 2026
- Big changes for RHS Flower Shows in 2026: here's what's different
- The RHS has lifted its gnome ban for Chelsea Flower Show 2026 - for one important reason
The other outliers in this respect include Baz Grainger, with his Killik & Co garden inspired by the Norfolk broads, and James Basson, who returns to the show after a break of nine years. The last time he was here he rather controversially won Best in Show for a representation of a Maltese quarry, and this time his unjudged exhibit for Project Giving Back is an evocation of the ochre mines of Roussillon in Provence, with pine trees and towers of red sandstone. How will the crowd react to his work this time, inured by a decade of landscape-led gardens?
You may also like
- Chelsea Flower Show 2026: where to get tickets, dates and what's on - everything you need to know
- 10 essentials for visiting the Chelsea Flower Show
The general shift back to more traditional garden designs at the show is also apparent in the idea behind the main feature garden, The RHS and The King’s Foundation Curious Garden, designed by TV presenter Frances Tophill, with support from many other cooks including Alan Titchmarsh, David Beckham, Rosy Hardy and His Majesty The King himself. They plan to spark curiosity in gardening and plants and inspire the next generation to consider careers in nature-based industries. There will be a beehive, roses and raised beds of flowers and vegetables, as well as an oak-framed ‘museum’ housing a bevy of plant-related paraphernalia. There are no man-made materials being used in the garden and the whole build is concrete free.
Indeed, a standout element on show gardens is the use of more environmentally friendly types of concrete and recycled materials by many designers, especially crushed up for aggregate. Tom Stuart-
Smith is using a low-carbon version for The Tate Garden; The Asthma + Lung UK Breathing Space Garden by Angus Thompson will feature net-zero concrete; the Careys are trying a wall of oyster-shell- based alternative to concrete for the Addleshaw Goddard: Flourish in the City garden; and Harry Holding is giving clam-crete, made from mussel and cockle shells, a go for The Eden Project: Bring Me Sunshine Garden. After attempts in recent years to reduce and eradicate poured concrete from gardens at the show, it will be interesting to see how these experiments work out and what the implications might be for the designers’ real-world gardens.
Discover more about the gardens at Chelsea 2026
- First details of the gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show 2026: discover who is designing what
- RHS announces five All About Plants gardens for Chelsea Flower Show 2026
- Chelsea Flower Show 2026: balcony and container gardens announced
In terms of themes, a recurring one is spaces not just for people, but specifically for children and especially the wellbeing of teenagers. Harry Holding’s design has a solar-powered outdoor classroom and showcases green careers. Leigh Johnstone and Lee Connelly, known respectively as the Beardy Gardener and the Skinny Jean Gardener, will be making The Classroom Garden inside the Pavilion, with school desks inside a mini wildflower meadow.
The exhibit will be the base for the RHS Young Reporters who are compiling their impressions throughout the event. Charlie Chase is creating a garden for YoungMinds that represents the challenges young people face, and Patrick Clarke is designing The Children’s Society Garden in collaboration with young people to highlight the growing mental- health crisis among teenagers and create a place where they can interact with each other IRL. This is also the driving idea behind Christina Cobb’s Cleary Gottlieb: Time for Creativity garden, which wants to encourage people to make room for more fulfilling hobbies, free from the distractions of technology. Several designers, including Frances, Harry and Baz, are also highlighting the importance of rural crafts and traditional building techniques.
Last year was the first time the RHS really did away with category names such as Sanctuary or Artisan gardens, refocusing on large and small Show Gardens for judging and best awards. We were surprised in 2025 not only when Chelsea regular Kazuyuki Ishihara became the first to do the double and win the top prize and People’s Choice Award for the same garden, but also that the Best Show Garden Award, known as Best in Show, was renamed the RHS Chelsea Garden of the Year. Mr Ishihara returns this year with another slice of Japanese serenity – can he do the double-double?
Another change that has stuck is the moving of the small All About Plants gardens outdoors – a much better situation for the budding designers, visitors and of course the plants themselves. The Balcony
and Container Gardens are also unchanged (though smaller in number this year with just four balconies and two container gardens), as are the houseplant studios, and the Society has not announced any new prizes, initiatives or campaigns for us hacks to get our teeth into ahead of the show.
In the Great Pavilion, there are 63 nurseries and growers arranging their blooms for the admiration of visitors – more than in recent years – with a tent-busting 82 exhibits confirmed at the time of going to print. There are hostas, hyacinths, camellias and tulips, wisteria and succulents, fuchsias, gladioli, clematis, roses, acers, salvias and so much more on display. The RHS now offers financial support to help exhibitors with the costs of doing the show, from funding per metre square of the exhibit to travel expenses.
There are a few first timers indoors including Little Cornish Glasshouse showcasing a selection of named Anemone coronaria Mistral Plus Series. Plant Heritage is presenting displays of scented-leaf pelargoniums and rubus for the first time, and a National Collection of Wisteria display is sure to delight. Sea Spring Seeds has a container-grown vegetable display featuring its speciality chilli peppers, and Majestic Trees will be showing climate-resilient trees on its first outing to the show.
Flowers from the Farm, a network group of British cut-flower growers, is creating a miniature flower farm with seasonal blooms including ranunculus, which it believes is the first time this cut-flower favourite, has been exhibited at the show. Another exciting prospect in the tent is Summerdale Garden Nursery’s auricula theatre display.
Aside from these serious horticultural pursuits, there is plenty of novelty at the show too, with the lifting of the show’s gnome ban for charity, and intriguing-for- Chelsea exhibits such as a ‘pleasure garden’ for Lovehoney, the sexual wellness brand. The only thing we can know for sure at the moment is that it is shaping up to be an interesting year for the show.
