The garden will evoke the lush, wet woodlands that once swathed vast areas of the UK and is sponsored by grant giving charity, Project Giving Back, and supported by insurer, Aviva.

By bringing the enchantment of temperate rainforests to RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Wildlife Trusts hope to inspire people to support the restoration of this threatened habitat and show how nature-friendly gardening can help British wildlife thrive.

The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva have been working together since 2023 on a mission to bring rainforests back to the British Isles. The British Rainforest Garden will tell the story of this precious habitat that once blanketed a fifth of the country but now only covers about 1% of the land - and the work underway to recover it.

The garden will immerse visitors in verdant fronds beneath dappled sunlight, to the bubbling sound of flowing water. People can linger among lichened boughs of birch and delight in mounds of mosses beside a tumbling waterfall. A rare Royal fern will froth amid bursts of blue, yellow and pink provided by bluebells, marsh marigolds and foxgloves. Features include:

• A raised wooden walkway which will snake across the garden, transporting visitors over moss-covered ground past a tumbling waterfall.
• A silver birch tree will lean over the wooden walkway at a dramatic angle - a naturally occurring feature to symbolise nature’s resilience in the face of adversity.
• A fern and moss wall will span the entire eight metre width of the garden, covered in many species of ferns and mosses, and draped in ivy.

The garden will be in the All About Plants category and its focus will be on celebrating the plants found in Britain’s temperate rainforests today. Two members of Plant Heritage national collections will lend plants – the British Fern Society and Stone Lane Gardens, which is home to the national collection of birch and alder.

In this region, part of Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Briarwood Banks reserve is designated a temperate rainforest as parts of it are permanently damp with mosses and liverworts dripping of the tree branches and trunks.

Elsewhere, the wildlife charity’s Wild City team has worked on community gardens as part of the Nextdoor Nature Project to reinforce the benefits of gardening and gardens to everybody’s health, wellbeing and community inspire a sense of community.

Mike Pratt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Chief Executive, says:

“I am thrilled that the Wildlife Trusts are able to bring the wonder of British rainforests to RHS Chelsea Flower Show with Project Giving Back. People are always amazed when they see the astonishing range of magical mosses and fantastic ferns that call our rainforests home, as well as the other wildlife that depends on them, like the pied flycatcher. They are truly awe-inspiring places.

“We are privileged to work with Zoe whose interpretation of these special places aims to inspire people to support our work to restore rainforests. It is part of a huge mission by The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva to turn the tide on the UK’s nature and climate crises.”

Zoe Claymore, award-winning garden designer, says:

“I have felt a deep personal connection to British rainforests since my childhood and have many happy memories playing amongst the rocks, stream, and moss boulders at my grandparents’ house by the Lydford Gorge. Visiting Devon Wildlife Trust’s Dart Valley nature reserve as part of my research for the garden felt like going home. Plants have provided me with such a safe, healing connection in difficult times, and I hope this garden can inspire others to find their own healing relationship with nature.

“There are around twenty-three million gardens across the UK, which, if designed right, can play a central role in nature’s recovery - particularly in urban areas. Small spaces like our British Rainforest Garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show will show how people can use what they have and embrace their local climate when creating a garden - allowing themselves and wildlife thrive, no matter where they live.”

The garden is sponsored by Project Giving Back and supported by Aviva. Visitors are invited to see the garden throughout Chelsea week from Tuesday 20^th May to the final day on Saturday 24^th of May 2025.