A Collection of Unique, Yet Unified Gardens
Each show garden this year offers its own distinct personality, showcasing the incredible range and creativity of today’s garden designers. While past years sometimes centred on bold statements or headline-grabbing concepts, 2024 feels more like a celebration of diversity—where every garden tells its own story. Together, they form a tapestry of ideas, each one contributing to the rich and inspiring atmosphere that makes Chelsea so special.
Water features and sustainability shine brightly at this year's show, just as many had hoped. Gardens brim with serene ponds, trickling streams, and reflective pools, all thoughtfully built with eco-friendly materials and techniques. More than ever, these spaces celebrate the heart of gardening—inviting, tangible, and nurturing places that reconnect us with nature and the joy of growing.
Colour, Composition, and a Shift in Trends
This year’s show bursts with vibrant, joyful planting. Ann-Marie Powell’s National Trust garden and Matthew Childs’ Terrence Higgins Trust garden dazzle with bold, energetic colour palettes. Miria Harris’s design paints a stunning gradient from rusty oranges to warm pinks, while Ula Maria’s woodland garden for Muscular Dystrophy UK provides a peaceful retreat with soft tones of pink, purple, blue, and white. Tom Stuart-Smith’s serene design adds a gentle elegance with its subtle mix of whites and yellows.
The variety of trees—pine, birch, hazel, koelreuteria, alder, and willow—further enriches the landscape. Each garden proudly embraces the joy of planting, offering something new at every turn. Rather than abstract concepts, these gardens are places to enjoy, admire, and feel inspired by.
The Standout Gardens
Among this year’s many delights, a few gardens shine particularly brightly for us in their plant schemes and ideas:
Tom Stuart-Smith’s National Garden Scheme Garden
This enchanting space reinvents the traditional cottage garden with flair. Rich woodland planting, a charming oak cleft shed, striking hazel trees, and a beautiful double stone sink come together to create a garden full of warmth, character, and timeless appeal.
Tom Massey and Je Ahn’s WaterAid Garden
Blending modernity with nature, this garden’s sculptural steel centrepiece flows seamlessly into its surroundings. Floating walkways, natural materials, and thoughtful planting combine to make a space that’s imaginative, dynamic, and full of beautiful blue irises.
Ula Maria’s Muscular Dystrophy UK Garden
Awarded Best in Show, Ula Maria’s debut is a soothing sanctuary that invites reflection and calm. With flint and bungaroosh walls, a flowing water feature, and a canopy of 50 graceful trees, it creates a magical forest-bathing experience that delighted both judges and visitors. Her well-earned win also marks a special moment in celebrating female talent in garden design.
Bowel Research UK Garden
Designed by Chris Hull and Sid Hill, and built by Atlantes Landscapes, this gold medal-winning garden—sponsored by Project Giving Back and Bowel Research UK—offers a powerful message of health, sustainability, and community. Inspired by cultures that have long nourished themselves through thriving ecosystems, the design explores the deep connection between the health of the soil, wildlife, and our own microbiomes.
A Chelsea for Everyone
The Chelsea Flower Show 2024 feels like a generous, uplifting return to the joy of gardening. Rather than seeking to shock or challenge, these gardens welcome us in with open arms—places of creativity, peace, and inspiration. They demonstrate that beauty and innovation can go hand in hand, and that gardens, at their heart, are made to be enjoyed.
Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or a first-time visitor, this year’s show offers something for everyone. It’s a wonderful reminder that the art of gardening is alive and thriving, and that nature, thoughtfully nurtured, can bring joy to us all.
To find out more about Chelsea Flower Show and plan your trip, visit RHS Website