The stories behind two thoughtful designs representing Scotland at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden pictured above is the work of Duncan Hall and Nick Burton of Burton Hall Garden Design. It was sponsored by Project Giving Back and inspired by Duncan’s nephew, Liam, who has Down’s syndrome and who has been supported by the charity Down’s Syndrome Scotland (DSS)…

Celebrating difference

“When Nick and I were talking about doing a garden at Chelsea, we decided we would only do it if we could find a good cause to highlight,” Duncan recalls. “I spoke to my brother and asked where he’d had support for Liam and he put us on to Down’s Syndrome Scotland. It very quickly snowballed from there and now our relationship with the charity is incredibly strong.”

The two gardeners have a wide network of collaborators, many of whom were keen to get involved. “We have some fantastic Scottish artisans contributing to the project,” says Nick. “They’ve interpreted their briefs brilliantly and have all held workshops for DSS. We’ve worked with the charity to make sure members of the community are able to participate.” Edinburgh cabinetmaking firm Laurence McIntosh is providing bespoke benches (one engraved with the old Gaelic proverb “Hard as the heather, lasting as the pine”), artist Frances Priest has created 21 ceramic tiles for the space, and Old School Fabrications is constructing the garden building.

“It’s been nicknamed ‘the hug’,” says Duncan with a smile. “Inside there’ll be a display of 21 knitted socks – the numbers 21 and 3 are repeated throughout the garden as Down’s syndrome is caused by a third copy of chromosome 21.”

Mischief and playfulness have been included, with a secret water jet activated by depressing a tile, and part of the walkway includes a slightly submerged bridge, meant to represent the barriers still faced by members of the Down’s syndrome community. Fundamentally, that bridge is crossable, and leads to a durable Scots pine as well as joyful, colourful planting.

Visit the Burton Hall Garden Design website | Follow Burton Hall Garden Design on Instagram

Garden for an art lover

“The inspiration for the garden now at at RHS Chelsea Flower Show comes from Arbroath’s beautiful landscape of sand dunes, with its extensive skies and open views over the North Sea,” explains project lead Nigel Dunnett. “The colours, forms and ecologies of the dunescapes are the starting point for a design filled with resilient coastal planting.”

Nigel has created this design for Hospitalfield, a contemporary arts charity in Arbroath. This marks Hospitalfield’s debut at RHS Chelsea and it’s no surprise that Nigel was chosen – he was the one to design the charity’s double walled garden (a permanent feature, open to visitors).

“The garden for Chelsea is centred around a working art studio and the planting is all established in sand,” Nigel reveals. “This reflects the current interest in using mineral materials, such as sands and gravels, as the growing medium to encourage highly diverse and resilient planting. There’s a focus on shrubs as well as herbaceous planting, with deep green, blue-green, grey-green and grey foliage incorporated throughout. Blue-grey dune grasses form a matrix within which pockets of colourful flowers can sparkle.”

Timber ribs, crafted by Broadbent Studio, hold the sand in place. “They’re reminiscent of the skeletons of ancient animals or fragmented boat hulls emerging from the sand.”

Social enterprise Bothy Stores has been tasked with creating the ‘craft bothy’ which will be used as an artist’s studio. “At Chelsea, this will be taken over by the celebrated artist Patrick Brill (more familiarly known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith) and filled with his colourful slogan artwork.” The bothy has been purposely designed for artists to work remotely, off-grid.

“It’s embedded in the dunes,” says Nigel. “We wanted to create the impression of the sand being blown against the walls, so that the building doesn’t feel separate from the garden. The intention is that the artist working in it is inspired and energised by the dramatic garden setting.”

After Chelsea, the garden will be relocated to Ladyloan Primary School in Arbroath. “The staff have been great champions of the project and I’m looking forward to seeing how they use the garden and make it their own.”

Visit the Broadbent Studio website | Visit the Bothy Stores website

Keep an eye out

The Fettercairn Wilderness Retreat at RHS Chelsea Flower Show is inspired by the Cairngorms landscape, where the Fettercairn distillery is. The whisky brand will unveil a balcony garden designed by Sonia Kamel, Sally Giles and Helier Bowling of ssh scapes. “We started our design with a passion for this Scottish landscape and have used colours that call to mind the sky, mountains and glens,” says Sally.

The garden is designed for an urbanite with limited space who wants a place to relax and connect with nature. It includes a copper bathtub (inspired by the distillery’s copper cooling ring) for cold plunges, the sound of moving water and oak seats made of wood from the Fasque Estate where the distillery is based. The planting will be wild and verdant: Scots pine, bell heather, wavy hair-grass, with yellow accents coming from globeflowers and common broom.

Visit the Fettercairn website | Follow Fettercairn on Instagram 

Learn more about Fettercairn’s Wilderness Retreat at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2025 below.

Fettercairn brings the flavours of the Cairngorms to RHS Chelsea Flower Show