In its final year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, after five years funding gardens, Project Giving Back (PGB) will present its own feature garden, designed by James Basson.
PGB has funded more than 60 gardens since 2022, amplifying the work of charities across the UK with its motto of 'gardens for good causes.' The feature garden will celebrate this legacy and the enduring impact those gardens continue to have through relocation, reuse and community benefit.
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Creating a garden for Chelsea can be a very effective way for charities to raise their profile and raise funds. The world-famous event offers a unique platform for good causes to bring their stories to thousands of show visitors and millions more who watch and read about it in the media. But funding a garden requires a sizeable budget, something most charities simply can’t afford. This is why the idea for Project Giving Back was born.
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Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, says: “This garden reflects what Project Giving Back set out to do - and what we are proud to have achieved in a relatively short period of time. Over five years, PGB has partnered with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and used this global platform to champion good causes, support charities and show how gardens can become powerful vehicles for generosity and change."
Designed by James Basson of Provence-based Scape Design, the Project Giving Back Garden will offer a dramatic, other-worldly landscape, never before seen at RHS Chelsea. Towering red sandstone cliffs, coloured by natural ochre pigment and gently weathered over time will sit among pine woodland. Beneath them, the planting is resilient and suited to the warm climate of southern France, offering a glimpse of what UK gardens may look like in the near future.
Pine trees will be positioned at the boundary edges of the garden, giving visitors a feeling of enclosure. Planting is wild, relying more on restraint than control. Plants will include the spring blossoming wild pear (Pyrus pyraster) that uses spiny thorns to protect itself and the beautifully fragrant yet understated common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) that colonises crevices and is an essential plant in Provence, deeply rooted in local identity.
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The garden has been designed to start a conversation about the unique approach PGB has taken to make an impact on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and charity sector in the UK. Speaking about his design, James Basson says:
“Taking inspiration from the ochre mines of Roussillon in Provence, Southern France where I live and work, the garden presents a powerful image of quiet regeneration. These mines were once heavily damaged landscapes but over time, through natural succession and soil regeneration, an extraordinary landscape has emerged. I wanted to bring a little of its drama and raw beauty to RHS Chelsea, and I feel that its unique story provides an appropriate backdrop for Project Giving Back to celebrate its legacy and inspire others to give back in their own way.”
James, who last designed a show garden at RHS Chelsea in 2017 for M&G Investments (winning RHS Gold and Best in Show) describes his design as a ‘tended landscape’ - a garden that has emerged from wild beginnings, requiring regular, gentle care. “I am excited to be working with Project Giving Back, alongside my French studio team and the brilliant Mark Whyman Landscapes and Kelways in the UK," he says. "I hope this garden conveys the incredible energy that immersive landscapes give us and allows Project Giving Back to talk about the creative energy it has seeded at RHS Chelsea, championing the power of opportunity, over its five transformative years."
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Clare Matterson, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, says: “By placing good causes at the heart of some of the show’s most ambitious gardens, PGB has helped demonstrate how creativity, generosity and horticultural excellence can have a positive impact on people’s lives."
As with all gardens funded by Project Giving Back, plans are in place for the garden to live on beyond the show, continuing its story in a new setting. The Project Giving Back Garden will remain a living legacy - a reminder that gardens, when thoughtfully designed and generously supported, can continue to inspire, heal and give back long after the show has ended.
Find out more and follow the story of The Project Giving Back Garden at givingback.org.uk and rhs.org.uk
