Magical British rainforest garden wins the public vote!

The Wildlife Trusts win People’s Choice award at 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden, designed by Zoe Claymore, has won the coveted BBC/RHS People’s Choice award in the All About Plants category.

The garden is sponsored by Project Giving Back and supported by the UK’s leading insurer Aviva, whose backing has enabled the charity to share the rainforest story on a national stage.

The garden invites visitors into a world that feels part fairytale, part forgotten past: moss-laden boulders, fern-fringed paths, and a dappled canopy of native trees creates a space both alive with wonder and rooted in one of the UK’s rarest and most threatened habitats.

Drawing thousands of visitors over the course of RHS Chelsea week, the garden champions the cause of the lost temperate rainforests of the UK’s western coasts – now reduced to less than 1% of their former range but being brought back to life thanks to a 100-year restoration project with partner Aviva.

Award for The Wildlife Trusts' British Rainforest Garden

The Wildlife Trusts' British Rainforest Garden - waterfall and silver birch tree

The Wildlife Trusts' British Rainforest Garden - accessible path and fern

Clive Nichols

Zoe Claymore winner of the RHS Chelsea Flower show - all about plants catergory

Zoe Claymore, award-winning garden designer, says:

“Thank you to everyone who voted. This has been a huge team effort and we’re all delighted that this garden has resonated with the public – and personally I’m very touched. As a designer, I wanted to create a garden which told the story of our beautiful native rainforests and it feels as if an interest has been sparked. Go wet woodlands!”

Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts, says:

“This win means so much because it comes from the public. It shows that people are falling in love with temperate rainforests—with their mossy, tangled beauty and the wildlife they shelter—and that they believe, like we do, in bringing them back. This garden has always been more than a showpiece. It’s a symbol of hope.”

Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer at Aviva, says:

“The People’s Choice award is a clear sign that the public have loved spending time in such a rare, yet magical, environment and recognise how important it is to preserve our natural British habitats. Thank you, and congratulations, from Aviva to Zoe and the team at The Wildlife Trusts for bringing a taste of the temperate rainforest to Chelsea and ensuring that these threatened habits are not forgotten.”

Alex Denman, trustee of Project Giving Back, says:

“We’ve loved seeing British temperate rainforests take centre stage at RHS Chelsea this week and listening to visitors’ reaction to this calm, tranquil slice of western Britain. Winning the coveted BBC/RHS People’s Choice award demonstrates the strength of feeling this garden has evoked in the wider RHS Chelsea audience and we’re thrilled for the whole team that their hard work and passion for British biodiversity recovery has been so richly rewarded. We look forward to the conversation continuing as the garden is relocated to Bristol.”

Once the show ends, the garden’s magic won’t vanish. Instead, it will be carefully rehomed at the Bristol Zoo Project, where it will become a permanent, immersive feature in a landscape dedicated to rewilding and education. There, its spell will continue – captivating school groups, families and future conservationists for years to come.

Visitors are invited to see the garden at site number 340 throughout RHS Chelsea week.

Editors notes

Zoe Claymore

Zoe Claymore is a garden and landscape designer based in southwest London. From her studio, she crafts bespoke outdoor places that resonate emotionally with her clients - while staying mindful of environmental responsibility. Named RHS Horticultural Hero 2023 and a triple award-winner at RHS Hampton Court, she draws on personal, cultural, environmental, and artistic inspirations to shape her designs. A regular media contributor and public speaker, Zoe advocates for innovative, sustainable, and deeply personal landscaping solutions that stand the test of time.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025: the the world’s greatest flower show will run from 20th - 24th May 2025 at London Gate, Royal, Hospital Road, Royal Hospital Chelsea, London, SW3 4SR. Find out more and book tickets.

The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden will be built by award-winning landscaping company Frogheath Landscapes. The plants are being grown by specialist nurseries and two Plant Heritage national collections are collaborating on the project, including members of the British Fern Society, and Stone Lane Gardens which is home to the national collections of birch and alder.

Project Giving Back

Project Giving Back (PGB) is a unique grant-making charity that provides funding for gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. PGB was launched in May 2021 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating effects on UK charitable fundraising - effects that have since been exacerbated by the cost-of-living crisis.

PGB will fund 10 gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2025 and intends to fund a total of 60 gardens inspired by a range of good causes from 2022 to 2026. PGB aims to boost UK-based good causes by giving them an opportunity to raise awareness of their work at the high-profile RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as well as supporting the relocation of the gardens to permanent homes after the show where they can continue to benefit the charities and their communities. Find out more at www.givingback.org.uk.

Aviva

Aviva is the UK's leading diversified insurer, operating in the UK, Ireland and Canada. They also have international investments in India and China. They help their 20.5 million customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong, they'll be there to put it right. They have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with their purpose of being 'with you today, for a better tomorrow'. In 2024, they paid £29.3 billion in claims and benefits to their customers. In 2021, they announced their ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so.

The Wildlife Trusts 

The Wildlife Trusts are making the world wilder and helping to ensure that nature is part of everyone’s lives. We are a grassroots movement of 46 charities with more than 940,000 members and 39,000 volunteers. No matter where you are in Britain, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people and saving, protecting and standing up for the natural world. With the support of our members, we care for and restore special places for nature on land and run marine conservation projects and collect vital data on the state of our seas. Every Wildlife Trust works within its local community to inspire people to create a wilder future – from advising thousands of landowners on how to manage their land to benefit wildlife, to connecting hundreds of thousands of school children with nature every year.