RHS & BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden designed by Monty Don Credit: RHS/Ollie Dixon
What happens after the show? For RHS gardens they’re built to live on, inspire, and enrich communities for years to come, says Helena Pettite.
It is fair to say that for growers, garden designers, landscapers (and the RHS) that whilst we celebrate the glorious success of our summer flower shows there is also a collective sigh of relief of a job well done.
RHS Shows bring horticultural excellence to the fore, leaving visitors inspired and buzzing with the latest ideas and spreading the joy and love of gardening to a wider audience.
Importantly, they also aim to ignite interest in new ways of gardening, challenge perceptions and lead the world in developing horticultural knowledge – in short, to leave a lasting legacy and provide ‘take-away’ ideas that continue long after the showgrounds are closed.
An essential part of this legacy is for the garden’s themselves to have a life after a Show. In this way they contribute to the communities, charities and schools where they are re-located and help to improve the sustainability of each Show by the reuse and repurposing of landscaping materials and plants.
Striving to make our Shows more sustainable, reflects our commitment to making all of our gardening practices and activities more sustainable. Since 2023 it is a requirement for all Show gardens to have a place to be rehomed as part of their selection criteria. This promotes sustainability, both as an organisation and across the wider industry.
Rather than view gardens as a temporary installation there is a much greater commitment to planning an ‘afterlife’ and the garden’s ‘living on’. Thus, when a garden idea is submitted, we consider how each garden can address sustainability, reusability and relocation after the show alongside its design, plant list and impact.
Whilst some gardens are built with a final home in mind, there are some gardens that serve spaces in multiple locations, with plants being sold or donated. Occasionally hard landscaping is reused by the contractors on other projects and in 2024, the RHS Chelsea Repurposed Garden reused elements from Show gardens dating back as far as 2010. This garden looked at creative ways to reuse and recycle the materials we already have and to this end, nearly everything in the garden had lived at least one life already.
Then there’s the Flood Re: The Flood Resilient Garden, designed by Naomi Slade and Dr Ed Barsley in 2024, which has been adapted and relocated to Howbery Business Park in Oxfordshire. The garden created with water management in mind – to help reduce flood risk and to recover quickly after periods of heavy rainfall, was installed by HR Wallingford, an organisation that helps develop resilient approaches to flooding; this garden now lives on and is free for visitors to visit and enjoy.
However, not all beneficiaries are people! Monty Don’s first-ever RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden now lives on at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where rescue dogs will be able to enjoy it for years to come. The newly installed RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden is intended to become a sensory space that provides a calm, enriching environment where dogs can exercise, train and relax.
As more and more Show gardens find their forever homes, we are not only acting more sustainably but the gardens become a whole network of green spaces that help us to make gardening more accessible to all.
Read Pro Landscaper’s September issue here.
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