While Britain used to be swathed in vast areas of temperate rainforests, they're now more likely to feel like something out of a fairytale.
But The Wildlife Trusts are creating a British Rainforest Garden that will bring the enchantment of these woodlands to the UK's most prestigious flower show, RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025.
- Journey into Britain’s forgotten rainforests
- England's largest rainforest declared a national nature reserve
Designed by the award-winning Zoe Claymore, it's hoped that the garden will inspire people to support the restoration of this precious habit – as well as encourage gardeners to adopt more wildlife-friendly practises.
The garden has been designed to help tell the story of this habitat, which once covered a fifth of the country, but now only covers about 1% of land – and the work underway to restore them.
The Wildlife Trusts (and the garden's supporter, Aviva) have been working together since 2023 to bring back Britain's rainforests. So far, the partnership has involved restoring rainforests on the west coast, from Skiddaw in Cumbria and Bryn Ifan in North Wales. There are other promising signs for the UK's temperate rainforests, as the National Trust-owned Borrowdale rainforest in the Lake District was declared a national nature reserve in 2024.
Visitors will find themselves among lichened boughs of birch, soft moss and flora such as bluebells, marsh marigolds and foxgloves, alongside a tumbling waterfall.
- A beginner's guide to native British wildflowers
- How to identify conifer cones: colour, shape and size
Zoe Claymore, the garden's designer, says, "I’ve felt a deep personal connection to British rainforests since my childhood and have many happy memories playing amongst the rocks, stream and moss boulders at my grandparents’ house by the Lydford Gorge.
"Visiting Devon Wildlife Trust’s Dart Valley nature reserve as part of my research for the garden felt like going home. Plants have provided me with such a safe, healing connection in difficult times, and I hope this garden can inspire others to find their own healing relationship with nature."
Some plants in the garden include:
- Anthriscus sylvestris - cow parsley
- Hyacinthoides non-scripta - bluebell (English bluebell)
- Osmunda regalis - royal fern
- Fagus sylvatica - beech
- Ilex aquifolium - holly
The garden is sponsored by Project Giving Back and supported by Aviva. Visitors are invited to see the garden throughout Chelsea week from Tuesday 20-Saturday 24 May 2025.
Main image credit: David Chamberlain