Project Giving Back celebrates five years at RHS Chelsea with a Feature Garden designed by James Basson

In its final year at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Project Giving Back will present its own feature garden, a striking statement marking five years of funding gardens for good causes that have helped to amplify the work of charities across the UK

Designed by celebrated garden designer James Basson of Provence-based Scape Design, The Project Giving Back Garden will offer a dramatic, other-wordly landscape, never before seen at RHS Chelsea. The garden celebrates the legacy of Project Giving Back’s funding of more than 60 gardens inspired by good causes since 2022 and the enduring impact those gardens continue to have through relocation, reuse and community benefit.

Towering red sandstone cliffs, coloured by natural ochre pigment and gently weathered over time, sit among pine woodland. Beneath them, the planting is resilient and suited to the warm climate of southern France, offering a glimpse of what UK gardens may look like in the near future.

The garden is dramatic and rich in biodiversity. It has been designed to start a conversation about the unique approach Project Giving Back (PGB) has taken to make an impact on the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and charity sector in the UK.

Speaking about his design, James Basson says: “Taking inspiration from the ochre mines of Roussillon in Provence, Southern France where I live and work, the garden presents a powerful image of quiet regeneration. These mines were once heavily damaged landscapes but over time, through natural succession and soil regeneration, an extraordinary landscape has emerged. I wanted to bring a little of its drama and raw beauty to RHS Chelsea, and I feel that its unique story provides an appropriate backdrop for Project Giving Back to celebrate its legacy and inspire others to give back in their own way.”

Pine trees will be positioned at the boundary edges of the garden, giving visitors a feeling of enclosure and a sense that they are experiencing the garden from within. Planting is wild, with a light touch, relying more on restraint than control. Every plant has fought for its place here, from the spring-blossoming wild pear (Pyrus pyraster) that uses spiny thorns to protect itself, to the beautifully fragrant yet understated common thyme (Thymus vulgaris) that colonises crevices and is an essential plant in Provence, deeply rooted in local identity.

James, who last designed a show garden at RHS Chelsea in 2017 for M&G Investments (winning RHS Gold and Best in Show), describes his design as a ‘tended landscape,’ – a garden that has emerged from wild beginnings, requiring regular, gentle care. He continues: “I am excited to be working with Project Giving Back, alongside my French studio team and the brilliant Mark Whyman Landscapes and Kelways in the UK, to bring something to RHS Chelsea that we hope will encourage lively conversation at the show in May.”

Hattie Ghaui, CEO of Project Giving Back, says: “This garden reflects what Project Giving Back set out to do and what we are proud to have achieved in a relatively short period of time. Over five years, PGB has partnered with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and used this global platform to champion good causes, support charities and show how gardens can become powerful vehicles for generosity and change. This garden is both a celebration and a quiet call to action, an invitation to pause, to look at the world differently and to recognise the role that creative philanthropy and thoughtful giving can play in strengthening communities across the UK.”

Clare Matterson, Director General of the Royal Horticultural Society, says: “RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the charity’s biggest fundraiser, enabling us to engage millions of people across the UK with gardening, and Project Giving Back has played a significant role in showing the power of gardens to make a real difference. We are proud to have partnered with Project Giving Back and look forward to seeing how its legacy continues to inspire new approaches to supporting gardens and communities in the years ahead.”

As with all gardens at RHS Shows, plans are in place for the garden to live on beyond the show, continuing its story in a new setting. Just as the landscape that inspired the design has been shaped over time, the Project Giving Back Garden will remain a living legacy, a reminder that gardens, when thoughtfully designed and generously supported, can continue to inspire, heal and give back long after the show has ended.

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Project Giving Back celebrates five years at RHS Chelsea with a Feature Garden designed by James Basson

James Basson, designer of The Project Giving Back Garden

Designer James Basson has taken inspiration from the ochre mines of Roussillon in Provence, Southern France

The M&G Garden in 2017 designed by James Basson

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