Growing for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
Photograph coming soon
Suggested lead photograph: growing for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
A show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is on display for a single week in May, but the plants are planned, sourced and nurtured for many months beforehand. Here is how we grow for the world’s most famous flower show.
It starts with a plant list
Work begins long before spring, often in the previous year. Designers share their planting plans and plant lists, and we work through every tree, hedge, topiary specimen and perennial, sourcing from our own nursery and our network of trusted growers in the UK and Europe.
Photograph coming soon
Suggested photograph: selecting the specimens
Selecting the specimens
For a show garden, every plant is seen up close by judges, visitors and television cameras, so selection is everything. Designers visit the nursery to hand-pick trees and key specimens, choosing the exact shape, character and stem they want.
Timing is everything
Plants rarely perform to a fixed date on their own. In the months before the show, our team nurtures the selected plants in our polytunnels and on the nursery, bringing some on under cover and holding others back in cooler, shadier spots, so that as many as possible look their best in the third week of May. We also grow plenty of spares, because nature does not always follow the plan.
Photograph coming soon
Suggested photograph: show week
Show week
Our in-house team delivers to the showground on a tight schedule, often with large specimens that need careful offloading. The build team then brings the garden to life, plant by plant, with last-minute swaps from our reserves to make sure every corner is perfect.
Some of our RHS Chelsea Flower Show work
In 2025 we supplied the trees, hedging and most of the beech for Jo Thompson’s garden, alongside other specialist suppliers, and in the same year we planted the RHS and BBC Radio 2 Dog Garden, designed by Monty Don. In 2022, The Place2Be Securing Tomorrow Garden, designed by our founder Jamie Butterworth, won a Gold medal. A year earlier, in 2021, our “Size Matters” exhibit in the Floral Marquee, filled with topiary and grasses, won a Silver-Gilt medal.
See more of our RHS flower show gardens and events and installations.
What it means for your garden
The skills we use for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show go into every order we send out. That means careful selection, plants grown to look their best, and a team that understands how designers work. If you are planning a show garden, an event or a garden of your own, send us your plant list or come and talk to us.