Looking ahead: The RHS in 2026 and beyond
Clare Matterson, RHS Director General, looks forward to inspiring new flower shows and focusing on the key role gardens play for nature
Looking back: RHS highlights from 2025
RHS President Keith Weed reflects on a year of engaging more people in gardening through shows, gardens, education and community projects
Exceeding expectations at RHS Shows
Bringing people (and pets) together at RHS Shows, inspiring creativity and broader appeal
In 2025, RHS Flower Shows had another extraordinary year. RHS Chelsea once again proved why it’s the world’s most iconic flower show and one highlight was the Dog Garden from Monty Don, the RHS and BBC Radio 2, which captured the imagination of the public and press alike, and engaged new audiences.
Visitor numbers exceeded expectations at the first RHS Show at Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire. It demonstrated our ability to deliver horticultural excellence around the UK to inspire new communities – and to quickly overcome a few teething problems.
Green spaces supporting wellbeing
Creating green spaces for wellbeing, improving health and confidence through gardening
Our third NHS wellbeing garden, this time at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, and the RHS Wisley Diploma students’ therapeutic garden in Guildford highlight how green spaces support both mental and physical health. Social prescribing initiatives, such as those at RHS Bridgewater, are helping people recover confidence and stability after difficult times.
Bringing more families to RHS Gardens
Welcoming families into RHS Gardens, sparking early connections to the natural world
The year-long Guess How Much I Love You trail and other family events brought more children into our gardens, helping to establish lifelong connections with nature. Visitor numbers to RHS Gardens grew by 11% last year, well above the industry average, with families a major driver of that growth.
Growing horticultural skills
Building practical gardening skills, inspiring the next generation to grow and learn
Equipping the next generation of gardeners remains central to our charitable purpose. The Greener Skills Garden, offering hands-on experience, opened at RHS Wisley, with RHS Bridgewater’s Growing Skills Garden following in 2026. Our partnership with the Natural History Museum for the National Education Nature Park project is already reaching more than 1 in 3 schools and colleges in England.
Across the RHS, more than 60,000 people each year engage with our learning programmes, which we see as key in sharing our research on sustainable growing with as many people as possible. In addition, our online plant profiles, advice and grow your own content gained 70 million views.
Expert knowledge at your fingertips
Putting expert gardening advice in your pocket, helping more people grow with confidence
The RHS Grow app is attracting new audiences and its updated features will strengthen our aim to provide expert knowledge for all levels of gardeners.
Get the RHS Grow app
RHS Grow is a gardening app that makes it incredibly easy to identify plants, keep track of the plants you have, receive tips on how to care for them, and get help and advice.
Download the app today
Peat-free growing continues
Supporting the shift to peat-free growing, making sustainable choices easier for gardeners
Peat-free gardening continues to be a major focus. All RHS Gardens became peat-free from July 2025, and from January 2026, all RHS Garden Centres and RHS Plants online will sell only ‘no new peat’ plants. Our peat-free growing research, particularly into feeding and watering, is helping the industry and gardeners transition away from peat use.
Biodiversity at the forefront
Helping gardens support wildlife, strengthening biodiversity across the UK
Based on an extensive review by our scientists, we produced an updated RHS Plants for Pollinators list in July with more than 10,000 plants now included. This reinforces the biodiversity value of gardens, which are designed with variety, supporting birds, insects and wildlife at a combined scale even greater than in national parks in the UK.
Insights into gardening
Sharing insights into how the nation gardens, shaping better support for growing spaces
In autumn, we published the first in-depth RHS State of Gardening report to provide a comprehensive picture of the nation’s gardens and gardening practices. It showed 34 million adults garden at least once a month and 2.5 million people gardened in their communities in the past three years, but underlined the need for policymakers and planners to support gardens and growing spaces.
Committed to charitable goals
Advancing horticulture for everyone, bringing the benefits of gardening to more people
For 2025, it was a year of growth in horticulture, innovation and resilience. We are proud of double-digit visitor growth, proud of our leadership in gardening science and sustainability and proud of our role in education and wellbeing. Above all, we remain committed to our charitable purpose: advancing the art, science and practice of horticulture, and bringing the benefits of gardening to as many people as possible.
RHS Annual Report 2025–2026
Explore the RHS Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for 2025–2026.
Download the report (3.7MB pdf)
