Show Gardens
Visitors enjoyed the 2017 show gardens
There was an exciting range of inspirational and thought-provoking gardens to be seen at the 2017 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, once again featuring exhibits from the top garden designers.
Greening Grey Britain
Flying the flag for the RHS vision to make the UK a greener and more pleasant place, professor Nigel Dunnett created the RHS ‘Greening Grey Britain’ Garden to highlight, demonstrate and celebrate the multiple benefits of plants and gardens in even the smallest of areas. It provided a vision for the future development and use of private, communal and social spaces in the places where we live.
Explore more Show Gardens in detail
Of course, there was more to see around the show and these are the gardens that attracted a lot of attention.
James Basson aimed for his third consecutive RHS Gold medal with ‘The M&G Garden 2017’ for the show’s headline sponsor. Inspired by the majestic quarries of Malta, Basson demonstrated the rich diversity of Maltese flora and the beauty of this harsh environment.
The inspiration behind the M & G Garden 2017
‘The Royal Bank of Canada Garden’ by debut designer Charlotte Harris was inspired by the boreal forests and freshwater lakes of Canada. The garden featured pines, larches and birches. Harris was working with an all-female design team.
Design duo Andrew Wilson and Gavin McWilliams with ‘Breaking Ground’
celebrated the work of Wellington College, and re-created the endangered heathland in Berkshire where the college is situated.
'500 Years of Covent Garden supported by Capco’ by Lee Bestall celebrated this much-loved area of London through its transformation from Westminster Abbey’s orchard garden in 1201, to the bustling marketplace we know today. Planting depicted its rich floral heritage, while arches represented the distinctive Market Building.
Using the Yorkshire coastline as its inspiration, the Welcome to Yorkshire garden featured cliffs, a real beach and reconstructed sea, all centred on a ruined abbey in celebration of one of the county’s many historic buildings.
The Silk Road Garden, Chengdu China was architect Laurie Chetwood and garden designer Patrick Collins' fourth show garden at Chelsea. It combined architecture and planting in a conceptual East-West landscape with a dramatic 'Silk Road' bridge linking the various elements of the garden.
Other Show Garden highlights included the Darren Hawkes’ ‘Linklaters Garden for Maggie’s', and ‘The Morgan Stanley Garden’ by 11-time RHS Gold medal-winning designer Chris Beardshaw.
