As the RHS Chelsea Flower Show opens this week, we’ve been highlighting the importance of nature and outdoor therapy for Scotland's visitors.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show runs from 20-24 May 2025, with four exhibiting gardens inspired by Scotland.
Three of those gardens (Seawilding Garden; Hospitalfield Arts Garden; and Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden) are funded by Project Giving Back, a charity that funds gardens appearing for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden is designed by Burton Hall Garden Design for Scottish charity, Down’s Syndrome Scotland. Sponsored by Project Giving Back, it features a meandering path, a water pool with a submerged bridge, and a beautiful garden building designed to feel like a warm embrace. It celebrates and reflects the unique qualities that people with Down's Syndrome bring to society. It will be relocated to Palacerigg Country Park, near Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, where it will be managed by charity, Watch Us Grow, in partnership with Down’s Syndrome Scotland.
The Hospitalfield Arts Garden takes its inspiration from the coastal location of Hospitalfield, a contemporary arts centre in Arbroath, and encompasses an ‘artist bothy’ studio and workspace surrounded by sand dunes, coastal and mediterranean plant-life. The garden will be relocated to Ladyloan Primary School in the Angus town, following the Show.
The Fettercairn Wilderness Retreat, designed by ssh scapes, is a balcony garden. Inspired by the landscape and wild plants of the Cairngorms, it features a copper bathtub for a cold-water plunge. Nestled in the foothills of the Cairngorms mountain range is Fettercairn Distillery, sponsor of the Fettercairn Wilderness Retreat and where the balcony garden will be relocated after the Show.
The Seawilding Garden, which as part of its installation will feature seagrass, the ocean’s only flowering plant – a first for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show – is designed by Ryan McMahon and inspired by the landscape found at Loch Craignish in Argyll, home of community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration charity, Seawilding. Following the Show, the garden will be relocated to the charity’s base in Ardfern, Argyll.
Outdoor therapy was highlighted as a popular travel trend in our recent Trends for 2025: the experience economy paper, a wellness tourism trend that’s growing as people recognise the benefits of being in nature and it’s relation to overall wellbeing and mental health. In the Scotland Visitor Survey, it highlighted that 38% of all visitors to Scotland are searching for a holiday “to connect with nature.” Nature is hugely important for visitors to Scotland.
There’s also a clear appetite for green-fingered experiences from Scots, with online searches for “Chelsea Flower Show” showing a 350% increase in the past quarter in Scotland, with around 15,600 searches per year.
Learn more about the importance of nature for visitors