The BBC and RHS People's Choice Award is the chance for the public to have their say on which RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden they loved the most, and usually, they vote for the classic, traditional entry or for the designer they feel has been most hard done by in the judges rating.
Voting for the Show Gardens opened 3pm on Wednesday 21 May, while the other categories were open for voting all week. Voting closed in all categories on Thursday 22 May at 8pm.
On Friday evening, this year's winner was announced live on BBC 2, and in a RHS Chelsea first, it went to Kazuyuki Ishihara's Cha No Niwa Japanese Tea Garden, who also won the coveted accolade of Best in Show (now renamed Chelsea Garden of the Year) earlier in the week. Never before has one show garden or designer won both the judges and the public vote in the same show.
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Kazuyuki Ishihara is known at Chelsea for his exquisitely crafted and serene Japanese gardens that evoke the beauty of the Japanese satoyama (landscape). Acers always feature, along with irises, calming water, artfully placed stone and moss. He has done 17 small show gardens at Chelsea, many winning Gold or Best in Show, but this is his first on Main Avenue.
Created to be the designer’s personal garden, it is designed to evoke a sense of shedding the world's cares as he slowly meanders through the garden to the tea house, where he will arrive refreshed and calm for tea ceremony.
The award was accepted by Kazuyuki's son, Jun Ishihara, who also had a garden in the balcony and container category this year. Kazuyuki was on a plane at the moment the award was announced - one can only imagine how he might feel upon landing and discovering he has achieved a Chelsea first and the double haul of big prizes.
Elsewhere in the People's Choice categories, there were wins for the Wildlife Trusts British Rainforest garden designed by Zoe Claymore in All about Plants, the Down's Syndrome Scotland garden designed by Duncan Hall and Nick Burton in the Small Show Gardens category, and the Bees for Development garden, designed by Jenny Rafferty, Frantisek Zika, Jim Goodman which won in the Balcony and Container Gardens category.
Winners of the People's Choice Award 2025
Show Gardens
Winner: Cha No Niwa Japanese Tea Garden, designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara
Balcony/Container Gardens
Winner: Bees for Development - Making Life Better With Bees
All About Plants Gardens
Winner: Wildlife Trusts British Rainforest Garden
Small Show Gardens
Winner: Down's Syndrome Scotland Garden
See all of the medals awarded at Chelsea Flower Show.