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6 June 2022
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 Highlights & Garden Trends
The 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show has come to an end and it did not disappoint! With the original springtime spot in the calendar back, Chelsea was brimming with colourful blooms, inspirational garden designs and an endless supply of shopping opportunities! Here we take a look at some of the award-winning garden designs and top garden trends of 2022.
Top Chelsea Garden Trends
Water Features
From bubbling fountains and crystal clear pools to babbling brooks and dramatic waterfalls, the Chelsea Flower Show garden designs showcased so many different ways to introduce the calming element of water into the garden. Water is not only soothing for our senses but also attracts more wildlife. Whether you are looking to rewild the garden or introduce a zen water feature, Chelsea gave us heaps of inspiration!



Secluded Seating
The role our gardens play in our health and wellbeing has been amplified these past few years. We are more aware than ever of the importance of having outdoor space and how we can utilise it as an extra living space within the home. This year, Chelsea showcased some beautiful spaces for reflection and relaxation, places to sit and take in the beauty of nature, to be present and take a pause in our busy days all surrounded by luscious planting and scattered with beautiful cushions.



Pollinator Plants, Wildflowers & Kitchen Gardens
The show gardens were brimming with colourful blooms, many featuring bee loving Alliums in various colours and species along with Foxgloves, Lupins and Lillies. Many of the garden trends this year centred planting schemes around edible foliage with kitchen gardens and containers of herbs and vegetables. It wasn't just the show gardens that ran with this theme either. Alitex's trade stand featured brick-paved greenhouses and raised beds brimming with fruit and herbs. It was amazing to see and hear the buzz of so many bee species right in the centre of our capital city!



Powerful Messages
Each garden had a powerful message behind it, a cause to bring to everyone's attention with the exposure of the Chelsea Flower Show. From rewilding to special anniversaries, health and wellbeing. Here are a few that caught our eyes this year.
'Hands off Mangrove'
Designed by Tayshan Hayden-Smith and Danny Clarke Built by The Landscaping Consultant and sponsored by Grow2Know CiC and Project Giving Back. This garden portrayed two very important issues - global deforestation and social injustice. The large structure was inspired by the real-life story of the community activists known as the Mangrove Nine, who were tried and acquitted of inciting a riot in 1970's London. Along with the global deforestation of mangroves, which are key to maintaining estuarine ecosystems.
Hands Off Mangrove by Grow2Know aims to drive awareness of the severe impacts that racial and environmental injustices are having on our planet, at the Chelsea Flower Show. A symbol of coexistence, (bio)diversity, and resilience, the garden is reflective of the community of Notting Hill, where the Mangrove Nine stood up in the face of adversity for their local restaurant – ‘The Mangrove’ – and inspired positive change for future generations.
grow2know.org.uk/hands-off-mangrove/
Each of the nine steel roots represented a real person and collectively they formed a communal space below in which people could come together safely in nature. Pollinator-friendly, edible, ornamental and architectural plants filled the spaces around the communal area, all suited to inner-city landscapes so that the garden can be successfully relocated back into the community after the show. Through the centre ran an upcycled crushed concrete path which represented the challenges and threats of racism, poverty and violence rife in 1960/70s London. Find out more...



Dalefoot Composts & The Eden Project
This gold medal-winning immersive display based in the Discovery Zone of the marquee boasted a real piece of ‘borrowed’ Cumbrian peat bog to highlight the critical importance of UK peatlands to our climate and to urge gardeners to ditch using peat. We met the farmer and the team at Eden Project who were able to share their experiences and knowledge of these mossy wonders!
Peatlands only occupy about 3% of the Earth’s land surface but are the largest terrestrial carbon store on the planet. UK peatlands cover around 12% of its land area and store 3.2 billion tonnes of carbon, more than twice that of the UK’s forests*, as well as being very important habitats for biodiversity.
edenproject.com

The Plantsman Ice Garden
Designed by John Warland, built by The Plantman & Co and sponsored by The Plantman & Co. This silver-gilt winning garden shared the powerful message of climate change. Since 1994, 28 trillion tonnes of ice have disappeared from the surface of the planet and this melting of permafrost comes with an immediate threat to our climate. There is however a message of hope, as this melting has also uncovered a dormant seed bank thought to have been buried over 30,000 years ago. This seed bank is significant as it may hold the genetic code for sustainable crops and fuel to adapt to a new climate. Read more here...

Show Gardens
Show gardens are always the main event at Chelsea and this year was no exception. With Balcony Gardens, Container Gardens, Sanctuary Gardens and House Plant Studios all returning after their success at last year's autumn Chelsea. This year's Chelsea flower show was inclusive, catering for every type of homeowner while sharing some very powerful messages around activism, rewilding and wellbeing. All the gardens this year were beautiful and we would like to congratulate and say thank you to every person for their designs and hard work from landscapers to designers, florists and sponsors, staff and presenters.
BBC/RHS people's best show garden award'
The Perennial Garden ‘With Love’
This Silver medal-winning garden, designed by Richard Miers & built by Stewart Landscape Construction won the People’s Choice Award in the Show Gardens category. The classical contemporary garden design featured a serene colour palette and a central steady water stream with the words: "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you" in neon writing. Highlighting that gardens are a gift of love for those who nurture them. Read more here...


Best Show Garden
'A Rewilding Britain Landscape'
This Gold medal-winning garden was designed by
Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt, built by Landscape Associates and sponsored by
Rewilding Britain and Project Giving Back. The garden represented a rewilding landscape in South West England, after the reintroduction of beavers. It featured a dammed pool, A wooden walkway, inspired by the Neolithic Sweet Track from the Somerset Levels, which wound through the wetlands surrounded by wildflowers and grasses with remnants of the beaver's food.
Best Construction Award
Sarah Eberle's beautiful triple waterfalls built by Landform Consultants and sponsored by MEDITE SMARTPL also won gold. This stunning garden was inspired by forests and natural vertical rock strata. The waterfall led to a pool surrounded by rare and wild species of flora. Many of the tree specimens were native to the forests of Ireland, where MEDITE SMARTPLY responsibly source the timber for their products. Read more here...


Best Sanctuary Garden
This beautifully feminine garden was designed by
Pollyanna Wilkinson, built by Landcraft and sponsored by Mothers for Mothers and Project Giving Back. I featured a stunning bench on light porcelain tiles, surrounded by soft florals. This was to highlight the prominence of post natal depression and the mental health of mothers. A transition from despair to hope and an important message to share and de-stigmatize. Find out more here...
Best Sanctuary Garden
'Out of the Shadows'
This beautifully serene garden design from Kate Gould, built by Kate Gould Gardens and sponsored by Kate Gould Gardens was the epitome of calm with a bubbling pool surrounded by neutral mosaic tiles resembling fish scales, a white colour palette with lots of lush tropical foliage and rounded firepits and seating all added to the most idyllic space to relax and restore body and mind. A firm favourite with the Chelsea crowd and it is not hard to see why! Find out more...


Best Balcony & Container Garden
'The Still Garden'
This gold medal-winning garden was designed by
Jane Porter, built by Big Fish Landscapes and sponsored by Qualis Taxation Services. We loved the natural stone slate wall and irregular stepping stones on pink gravel. The garden was adorned with copper and barrel pots filled with green foliage and an array of pink and purple flowers. Find out more here...