RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the pinnacle of the gardening world, and those who win a Gold medal become part of the pantheon of great and good in horticulture. But what the judges pick for the top awards doesn't always tally with visitors to the show and the general public think. What about those gardens that maybe didn't tick all the judges' boxes, but really inspire people?
It's just as well there is a way you can have your say for the real top prize of the week: the BBC RHS People's Choice Award, which opens up voting to everyone. Throughout show week, you can pick your favourite garden and support it by voting online. Read on to discover which gardens are eligible for the award and how to vote for you top pick.
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And just in case you think your favourite isn't included, feature gardens - i.e the Karoo Succulent Garden and Monty Don's RHS and BBC Radio 2 dog garden - can't be voted for!
Gardens eligible for the People's Choice Award vote
Show Gardens
The Avanade 'Intelligent' Garden
designed by Tom Massey with Je Ahn
built by The Outdoor Room
Read our full guide to The Avanade Garden designed by Tom Massey and Je Ahn
The Avanade Garden will use AI technology to feed data back to the owner about conditions in the garden, making it easier for people to garden more sustainably. There will be a digital twin of the garden for visitors to access via QR code to see the future. It is hoped that this will empower gardeners - it will become a community garden in London after the show and a test-bed for this sort of development.
Expect plants including Toona sinensis ‘Flamingo’, Zanthoxylum simulans, Cornus kousa, Rubus phoenicolasius and Lycium barbarum.
Discover another of Tom Massey's gardens
Discover Tom Massey and Je Ahn's WaterAid garden from Chelsea 2024
The Glasshouse Garden
designed by Jo Thompson
supported by Project Giving Back
Read our full guide to The Glasshouse Garden designed by Jo Thompson
This garden will celebrate the transformative effect of second chances through horticulture, inspired by the work of Glasshouse Botanics. Glasshouse Botanics help to provide a sense of purpose for women approaching the end of their prison sentences.
The garden will be an immersive space, centred around a translucent elliptical pavilion, emerging from the foliage. Plants include river birch trees, ferns, grasses and roses including, Rosa ‘Tuscany Superb’, Rosa ‘Charles de Mills’, and Rosa ‘Emma Bridgewater’.
Discover more about Glasshouse Botanics
Hospitalfield Arts Garden
by Nigel Dunnett
supported by Project Giving Back
built by Landform Consultants
Read our full guide to the Hospitalfield Arts Garden
Professor of planting Nigel Dunnett returns to Chelsea Flower Show for the first time this year since 2017. The garden will reflect the coastal location of Hospitalfield Arts in Arbroath and will mirror the sand dune environment, with all planting established in sand. A dune pool, which collects rain water from the studio and surrounding dunes will also be featured.
After the show, the garden will be relocated to a primary school close to Hospitalfield. Ladyloan Primary School is very close to the beach in Arbroath and the garden will be adapted for the use of the children and teachers alike.
The Hospice UK: Garden of Compassion
designed by Tom Hoblyn
supported by Project Giving Back
built by Mark Whyman Landscapes
Read our full guide to the Hospice UK: Garden of Compassion
This garden draws climate and planting parallells between County Durham and the mountainous areas of the Mediterranean. It is designed to demonstrate how spaces can play a role in providing comfort and calm at the end of life.
The layout mirrors the Olive Houses in Mallorca, and uses rocks to create a sense of being grounded in nature. The garden will be relocated to St Cuthbert’s Hospice in Durham following the show.
The King's Trust Garden: Seeding Success
designed by Joe Perkins
supported by Project Giving Back
built by Landscaping Consultants
Read our guide to The King's Trust Garden
Inspired by a volcanic environment, this garden highlights how seeds represent the potential for life growth and optimism for the future, drawing parallels with young people. Screen printed glass panels weave through the garden and represent seed dispersal.
Small Show Gardens
The Down's Syndrome Scotland Garden
by Duncan Hall and Nick Burton
supported by Project Giving Back
built by Kate Gould Gardens
Read our guide to the Down's Syndrome Scotland Garden
This is Duncan Hall and Nick Burton's first ever Chelsea Show Garden, featuring work by artist Francis Priest. The garden highlights misconceptions that people with Down's Syndrome face.
The garden is inspired by Duncan Hall's nephew Liam, and will feature a crazy paving path with a feature building with decorative tiles. The naturalistic planting includes Betula nigra, Pinus sylvestris, Iris sibirica ‘Tropic Night’, Primula florindae and Arisaema candidissimum.
London Square Chelsea Pensioners Garden
designed by Dave Green
supported by London Square
A spot for our much-loved Chelsea Pensioners to relax in, this garden designed by Dave Green will feature planting that reflects the ceremonial life and stories of the Pensioners.
Expect a woodland space, filled with trees and seating upholstered in recycled Pensioners' uniforms. It is being relocated to the Prince of Wales Yard in the grounds of the Royal Hospital.
The Garden of the Future
designed by Matthew Butler and Josh Parker
built by Acacia Gardens
Read our guide to the Garden of the Future
Making the RHS Chelsea Flower Show debut, designers Josh Parker and Matthew Butler will feature climate-resilient ornamentals, crops and edible plants in order to demonstrate how to harness innovation when it comes to the climate.
This garden is sponsored by the Gates Foundation foundation and is inspired by scientists, researchers, farmers and more developing and implementing innovative approaches for adapting to a warming world. Key plants include Sorghum bicolor, Cajanus cajan, Ipomoea batatas, Cistus × purpureus and Crataegus monogyna.
British Red Cross Here for Humanity garden
designed by John Warland and Tom Bannister
Read our guide to the British Red Cross: 'Here for Humanity Garden'
The garden has been inspired by Henri Dunant, the founder and first volunteer of the Red Cross Movement and the countless volunteers who have since worked for the charity. The garden has been designed by six-times RHS Gold Medal winner, John Warland alongside Tom Bannister, who received a Gold Medal and was awarded Best in Class at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024. It will be a contemporary twist on an alpine garden, with large stone column-like planters mimicking traditional alpine troughs, plus areas of scree and crevice planting. The garden will showcase alpine plants from countries around the world.
Tackle HIV Challenging Stigma Garden
designed by Manoj Malde
built by JJH Landscapes
Read our guide to the Tackle HIV Challenging Stigma Garden
RHS Chelsea Flower Show regular Manoj Malde is famous for having got married at the show. This year, he'll be designing this garden for Viiv Healthcare, inspired by the advances in science and the power of the HIV community to tackle stigma.
Tree statues serve as a tribute to lives lost to HIV and the stigma that sadly persists. Hexagonal paving reflects a key chemical structure found within many HIV medications.
The garden will be relocated to Calthorpe Community Gardens in Kings Cross.
Discover more about Manoj Malde
Addleshaw Goddard: Freedom to Flourish Garden
designed by Joe and Laura Carey
built by The Outdoor Room
supported by Addleshaw Goddard
This garden from Joe and Laura Carey will embrace nature's call for an unhurried pace of life. It looks to the mental health benefits of slowing down and having an unhurried lifestyle.
The landscape of North Norfolk is its inspiration, with natural materials that represent cliffs and habitats for wildlife. Plants included are Oenothera odorata ‘Apricot Delight’, Baptisia australis and Hesperis matronalis.
Killik & Co Futureproof Garden
designed by Baz Grainger
built by Landform Consultants
Designer Baz Grainger returns this year to work with Killik & Co on this RHS Chelsea Garden for 2025. The Futureproof Garden offers a glimpse at 25 years into the future and is designed to withstand unpredictable weather patterns.
This modern family garden features resilient trees such as Zelkova serrata and Pinus mugo ‘Mughus’ and is inspired by rainscaping techniques. Expect plants more often associated with southern France and northern Spain such as Persicaria virginiana ‘Filiformis’, Artemisia ludoviciana ‘Valerie Finnis’ and Salvia sclarea.
The Pathway Garden
designed by Robert Beaudin and Allon Hoskin
Supported by Project Giving Back
built by Modular Garden Limited
Allon Hoskin and Robert Beaudin of Modular have designed a garden for Pathway, the charity that supports people who have experienced homelessness to access inclusive health care. Expect boulders intersecting around a path, as well as a pergola and a water feature. The garden will be designed using only upcycled materials. The garden will be going to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth after the show.
The Boodles Raindance Garden
designed by Catherine MacDonald
built by Gadd Brothers Trees and Landsapes
Read our guide to the Boodles Raindance Garden
Catherine MacDonald will be designing the Boodles Raindance Garden, celebrating the Boodles jewellery collection. The design draws heavily on the styles and motifs of the collection with circular paving pads, featuring etched concentric circles, lead the visitor to a platinum coloured Raindance pavilion
complete with domed roof that channels rainwater to a circular rill at its base.
Expect a raindance pavilion, which channels water into a circular rill at its base and plants including Astrantia ‘Shaggy’ and Paeonia ‘Noémie Demay’.
The Cha no Niwa - Japanese Tea Garden
designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara
Regular Chelsea Show Garden designer Kazayuki Ishihara's garden for 2025 will feature a traditional Japanese tea house among maples. Stones are key to the design and which also takes inspiration from the traditional flower arranging art of ikebana. '
Expect plants that include Acer palmatum, Enkianthus perulatus, Iris, Sedum, Hornbeam and Pachysandra terminalis.
Discover more about Kazuyuki Ishihara.
Children with Cancer UK 'A Place to Be...' garden
designed by Ros Coutts-Harwood and Tom Clarke
built by Big Fish Landscapes
Read our guide to the Children With Cancer UK 'A Place to Be...'
First time RHS Chelsea designer Ros Coutts-Harwood teams up with Tom Clarke on this garden, which offers a space for children to be carefree, happy, refreshed and grounded by the natural world. It will feature a monorail, a pool and a path to a reflective refuge, called the Nest.
The colour scheme is deep pinks and burgundy, from Rosa ‘Emma Bridgewater’, Allium ‘Forelock’, and Lysimachia atropurpurea ‘Beaujolais’. Splashes of white from Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam's Choice’.
All About Plants Gardens
The Seawilding Garden, designed by Ryan McMahon
Showcasing rare native plants and the work to restore them
Designer Ryan McMahon
Sponsor Project Giving Back for Seawilding
Contractor Frogheath Landscapes
Plants Kelways Plants, Moss Clerks, New Wood Trees
Relocating to A community garden at Ardfern, on the west coast of Scotland
“I wanted to bring [rare] plants into the garden and tell the story of how we can help restore them,” says designer Ryan McMahon of his garden, which highlights the work by charity Seawilding to restore seagrass to the oceans. This is the first time seagrass (Zostera marina), the UK’s only ocean-flowering plant, has been featured in a Chelsea garden. It will be planted in an underwater meadow in a salt water tank, which is not without its risks: “If fresh water leaks at Chelsea, that’s ok. But salt water is another matter,” says Ryan. The design is inspired by the rocky coastal landscape at Loch Craignish on the west coast of Scotland. Using successional planting, it evokes a transition from the shoreline to woodland, with the tank at the front. A large seagrass sculpture made from recycled metal sits at the opening of the woodland, offering a visual connection between the underwater meadow and the rest of the garden. Ryan is working with the Ocean Conservation Trust on growing and caring for the seagrass and Rare British Plants for loans, including of alpine rock cress (Arabis alpina).
Head to our Chelsea Flower Show page for all our coverage
The Songbird Survival Garden, designed by Nicola Oakey
A garden highlighting simple ways to help songbirds
Designers Nicola Oakey
Sponsor Project Giving Back for SongBird Survival
Contractor Crowton Rowarth
Plants Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants
Relocating to The Neighbourhood Network, Hull
Having become fascinated with the birds in her garden during lockdown, designer Nicola Oakey was shocked to discover that their numbers in the UK have halved in just two generations. Her first Chelsea garden aims to inspire gardeners to make small changes to introduce the three elements – shelter, food and water – that birds need. Key to her design will be two multi-stem Crataegus persimilis ‘Prunifolia’, which offer multiple seasons of interest, with a middle canopy of shrubby plants such as Viburnum opulus, and a naturalistic understorey that includes the thistle-like Centaurea montana ‘Purple Heart’, on which goldfinches love to feast. Blocks of yew hedging add height and show that a designed space can still be bird friendly. At its centre is a human-sized Birdhouse Den created from reclaimed materials, which is decorated with hand-crafted metalwork designs plasma-cut from repurposed oil drums by artist Jeni Cairns, depicting six songbirds – skylarks, starlings, house martins, yellowhammers, greenfinches and willow tits – that have all seen population decline.
The ADHD Foundation Garden, designed by Kate Terry
A garden to challenge preconceptions about neurodiversity
Designer Katy Terry
Sponsor Project Giving Back for The ADHD Foundation
Contractor PC Landscapes
Plants Form Plants, Hardy’s Cottage Garden Plants
Relocating to The University of Liverpool
“Thinking differently about thinking differently was what I always had in mind when I designed the garden,” says Chelsea first-timer Katy Terry, who hopes her garden will encourage visitors to rethink their preconceptions of neurodiversity. Central to her design is a striking ‘swing’ tree (Carpinus betulus), with a gravity-defying curved stem, from which are suspended five steel-mesh umbrella sculptures by David Begbie. A symbol of neurodiverse inclusion (and emblem of The ADHD Foundation), the umbrella shape is echoed in the many umbellifers, including Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, that number among the soft planting designed to help calm the ADHD mind. Made up of a diverse range of plants, mirroring human diversity, the planting engulfs a circular space where a bench overlooks a reflection pool, designed in collaboration with Torc Pots. At the rear of the garden, four Hydrangea petiolaris climb a willow fence created by weaver Mollie McMillen, while a fifth stands unsupported to represent the one in five with a neurodiverse condition.
The Wildlife Trusts British Rainforest Garden, designed by Zoe Claymore
An evocation within a garden setting of the temperate rainforests that once covered one-fifth of the British Isles
Designer Zoe Claymore
Sponsor Project Giving Back supported by Aviva for Wildlife Trusts
Contractor Frogheath
Plants Highland Moss, How Green Nursery, Kevock Garden Plants, Lincolnshire Pond Plants, New Wood Trees, Rymer Trees and Hedging, Stone Lane Gardens
Relocating to Bristol Zoo Project.
“Somebody standing in the garden will feel moisture in the air, they will hear water and smell moss,” says designer Zoe Claymore of her British Rainforest Garden, with its backdrop of a large fern wall and waterfall that has been inspired by the Dart Valley in Devon. A gently ramped boardwalk leads up to a seating area in the form of a big stone boulder, which is surrounded by planting largely made up of shades of green, including several easy-to-source mosses and ferns, with colour coming from the likes of Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Caltha palustris and Digitalis purpurea. Soft grasses also feature alongside lichen-covered trees such as hazel and a leaning silver birch, under which visitors need to duck. Julian Reed, holder of the National Collection of polypodies, has loaned a few intriguing ferns, and Zoe’s great uncle, the National Collection holder of birch and alder, has loaned some saplings from his garden, Stone Lane Gardens on Dartmoor.
Head to our Chelsea Flower Show page for all our coverage
Balcony and Container Gardens
A Space to Read Balcony Garden sponsored by Viking
Sponsor: Viking
Designer: Freddie Strickland and Ben Gifford
An outdoor garden reading space is the inspiration for this balcony garden designed by Freddie Strickland and Ben Gifford, featuring armchair style seats and subtle lighting.
With a verdant planting scheme, and a large tree used to conceal the boundaries of the balcony, the space should transport you to a quiet, cool place that's perfect for disappearing into a book.
Geranium sylvaticum ‘Album’ is repeated throughout the design, as a reliable and beautiful
perennial with a long season of interest, while Bergenia ciliata add an unusual texture to the
planting with their deeply veined and hairy leaves.
C6
Sponsor: Navium Marine Ltd
Designer: Joshua Fenton
Contractor: Fenton Gardens Ltd
A tiny version of a very well focused environmental garden, which features water recycling and carbon sequestration, while also supporting wildlife and being a calming and sophisticated space.
This small space is able to sequester over 1200kg of carbon, promoting three ways in which gardeners can do this in any space. The use of biochar improves the soil quality whilst also sequestering carbon for up to a thousand years. The garden incorporates planters made of charred oak, locking carbon up for the lifespan of the planter, an estimated eighty years.
The planting of fast-growing trees and herbaceous perennials gives the designer the opportunity to harvest the new growth and convert it to biochar, and in doing so, sequestering the carbon in the plant material. See hazel and apple trees, wisteria and miscanthus alongside lush greens and blues.
Komorebi Garden
Sponsor: Hamptons
Designer: Masa Taniguchi
Contractor: Garden Club London
Komorebi is a Japanese word, used to describe the way sunlight pierces through a tree canopy and the dappled shade it creates.
Designed to encourage meditation and contemplation, there are Betula pendula trees, Fargium japonicum and Disporum longistylum ‘Night Heron’, while traditional Japanese tea ceremony materials, like charcoal, are used to improve the air quality and emphasise the sense of tranquility within the garden.
Secret Base – The Another Green Room
Sponsor: Glion Group
Designer: Jun Ishihara
Contractor: Daikanyama Kadan Co.
We are interested to see that Jun Ishihara, son of the much-loved Chelsea regular and multi-Gold-winning Japanese designer Kazuyuki Ishihara, is stepping out on his own in this category this year with Secret Base – The Another Green Room garden.
This garden has been designed as a traditional Japanese tsuboniwa, or courtyard garden, inspired by biophilic design to harmonise with nature. It's created as a secret hideaway, so visitors will find themselves immersed in trees, with the soothing soundtrack of running water.
The garden will feature a number of deciduous trees, and a variety of seasonal plants to create year-round interest. Maple trees, Ekianthus lour, Nandina and Dryopteris eryhrosora have been chosen by the designer to evoke a Japanese ambience and to recreate the essence of traditional Japanese garden design.
MS Amlin Peace of Mind Garden
Sponsor: MS Amlin
Designer: Hamzah-Adam Desai
Contractor: Triston Dominique
The psychology of colour takes centre stage in this garden, reflecting the designer's journey into horticulture and his discovery of the positive impact colour therapy with plants could have on his mental wellbeing and mood. The planting has been designed to reference a colour wheel with complementary
planting principles applied, to show what can be achieved with containers to create a garden
border effect in a small space.
Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ has red-tinted orange flowers, with a long flowering season from late spring to autumn, while Euphorbia x martini ‘Rudolph’ is a striking evergreen with leathery dark green leaves, which develops bright red blush tips in autumn for winter interest, and blooms lime-green flowers in spring and summer.
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Room to Breathe Hospital Garden for the TSA
Supporter: The Tuberous Sclerosis Association (TSA)
Designer: Jen Donnelly and Catherine Gibbon
A restorative retreat for parents and caregivers of those living with tuberous sclerosis, this garden has been designed to help caregivers recharge.
A cocoon-like feature chair cradles visitors to the garden, offering a warm embrace and a sense of security, and an angled pergola evokes the subtle disorientation carers face, reflecting their need for realignment in challenging moments. The planting palette features calming greens to promote tranquillity, with splashes of burgundy amidst the greenery to represent carers’ resilience through adversity and whites serving as a guiding light through darker times.
Fettercairn Wilderness Retreat
Sponsor: Fettercairn
Designers: Sonia Kamel, Sally Giles, Helier Bowling
Contractor: RAAFT
This balcony garden is inspired by the wilderness of the Scottish landscape, with wild and verdant planting reminiscent of the Cairngorms landscape. This small space aims to embody a reminder that nature's extremities - wind, cold water and exposing conditions - can be bracingly beneficial for your health and happiness.
The colours of the Cairngorms in spring are reflected in the planting of the garden, with the green grasses of the grasslands, the pinks of the heathers and Silene, and the yellow of the Cytisus evoking the Scottish heath.
The ME+EM City Garden
Sponsor: ME+EM
Designers: Caroline and Peter Clayton
Contractor: Phil Sutton Landscapes
Detox from technology with this small space design, which is planted with fragrant plants and blooms for cut flowers.
The garden utilises a resilient planting design to cope with increased climatic extreme and is filled with plants perfect for growing your own cut flowers, such as sweetpeas.
Ornamental grasses also feature heavily, with layered grasses planted around the daybed to catch the evening light.
Navium Marine: Blue Mind Garden
Sponsor: Navium Marine
Designers: Ashleigh Aylett
Contractor: Hortus London
This balcony garden explores our deep connection to water as humans and the positive impact it brings to our wellbeing. The design reimagines how the aspects of water can be integrated into small spaces to create a sense of serenity in an urban environment.
The garden utilises resilient coastal planting in muted blue and green tones. Drought-tolerant plants such as Sea buckthorn and Artemisia highlight the shift towards plants that thrive in tough conditions and require less maintenance and water. The garden also features The Olla irrigation system, an ancient technique that gently releases water to plant roots.
Bees for Development - Making Life Better With Bees
Sponsor: Bees for Development
Designers: Jenny Rafferty, Frantisek Zika, Jim Goodman
Contractor: EH Thorne Ltd
This garden is inspired by Africa and the connection between bees, people and biodiversity, and designed as an urban retreat that is a haven for pollinators. The garden features traditional English and African beehives, creatively integrated to highlight the role of bees in addressing biodiversity loss, climate change and poverty.
An oak trunk near the entrance showcases traditional African beehives, weaving cultural heritage into a contemporary setting. Vibrant, pollinator-friendly plants — such as Agapanthus, Kniphofia and Gleditsia triacanthos ‘Rubylace’ — thrive in peat-free compost, ensuring colour and nectar throughout the seasons. Nasturtium provides abundant colour through peach and cream tones.
How to vote for your favourite for the People's Choice Award
There are four categories to vote in: Show Gardens, Balcony/Container Gardens, All About Plants and Small Show Gardens. You can vote all week direct from the show, or you can vote via the BBC website.
Voting for the Balcony and Container Gardens, All About Plants and Small Show Gardens is open now and you can cast your vote here.
Voting for Show Gardens opened at 3pm on Wednesday 21 May 2024 and you can vote via the BBC website link below.
Voting closes for all the categories for the People's Choice Award at 8pm on Thursday 22 May - so there's not a lot of time to vote!
Winners for all the garden categories will be announced at 8pm on Friday 23 May 2025 on the evening coverage on the BBC.
