The King's Trust Garden, 'Seeding Success'
Designing and delivering a garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is always a rewarding challenge.
The King’s Trust Garden, Seeding Success, was no exception, taking two years of development and involving an exceptional team of collaborators.
Following the success of our gold medal-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden in 2022, we reunited many of the same trusted partners, including The Landscaping Consultants, specialist nurseries Kelways and Deepdale, and our expert planting team. The build was supported by an extensive network of contractors, artists, engineers, and suppliers, with vital backing from The King’s Trust, Project Giving Back, and Elemis.
Applications to exhibit at Chelsea typically open in June. From there, months of design development, procurement and coordination follow. The build on site began in late April and ran through to the opening of the show on 19th May 2025.
We were proud to deliver one of the largest show gardens on Main Avenue — a 12m by 22m plot completed in just 18 days. Working within the intense, challenging and fast-paced environment of Chelsea requires a cohesive, experienced team, and it was a pleasure to work alongside such dedicated professionals once again.
The garden explored themes of resilience, regeneration, and opportunity, celebrating young people’s ability to thrive in challenging environments.
The basalt pathways and sunken seating areas create natural gathering points, encouraging collaboration and conversation, while quieter corners offer more introspective spaces for reflection. By using a permeable, unbound construction approach, we’ve also ensured sustainability and longevity.
Water is kept within the garden and can drain through the permeable surfaces. Also we have not used any cement or concrete in the construction, which means less co2 and also total re-use of the materials for the relocation to its permanent home after the show.
The garden’s planting scheme balanced scale, texture, and resilience.
Tall structural trees, including Pinus nigra, Ostrya carpinifolia, and Phillyrea angustifolia, provided a striking canopy and a sense of permanence. The pines, each standing 14 metres high and weighing seven tonnes, are believed to be the largest ever planted at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Beneath them, we introduced pioneer species such as poppies, Honesty, and Nigella — plants that self-seed and thrive in challenging conditions, perfectly reflecting the garden’s themes of regeneration and adaptability.
A naturalistic layer of grasses, perennials, and low-growing sub-shrubs in muted silvers and greens was carefully punctuated with vibrant highlights, creating a balanced and evolving landscape.
It was an unforgettable moment to walk through the garden with His Majesty The King during the Royal Visit and to see his genuine interest in the project and its connection to the work of The King’s Trust. I found him to be hugely engaging, appreciative and genuinely interested and enthusiastic both about the garden and the way it relates to the work of the Trust.
We’re so proud to have been awarded a prestigious Gold Medal for our garden; a true testament to all the hard work the whole team has put into this project that brought the garden to life.
The Legacy
The garden will be relocated to Uxbridge College, where it will be used by students on The King’s Trust programme. The relocation of the garden to Uxbridge College ensures that its benefits will extend well beyond the Chelsea Flower Show. It will serve as an outdoor learning space where students can engage with horticulture and hands-on gardening.
The experience of maintaining and evolving the space will teach valuable life skills, from teamwork to responsibility. Emotionally, the garden provides a calming and uplifting environment, offering young people a place to reflect, connect, and find inspiration.
Our hope is that, much like the seeds it celebrates, the garden will continue to foster growth, confidence, and opportunity for years to come.
We are thrilled that Joe Perkins’ beautiful and inspiring garden has been recognised with a gold medal. It so eloquently captures the spirit of our work, and we hope it will shine a light on the potential found in young people, as well as providing a place of solace and enjoyment in its final location, Uxbridge College.
Currently there are almost one million young people out of work or training in the UK, which makes our support to build their skills and confidence for the future more important than ever.
Jonathan Townsend, UK Chief Executive of The King’s Trust