RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019: what will the Duchess of Cambridge's Back to Nature woodland garden look like?

Kate's installation is inspired by her childhood and includes a treehouse and swing set, areas to learn and discover, plus spaces to relax.
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Aneira Davies15 May 2019

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2019 — arguably the most important garden event of the year — returns next week and this year's show will feature a wildlife garden co-designed by The Duchess of Cambridge.

Packed with features to help children learn and play with their families, the Back to Nature garden is one of this year's most eagerly anticipated installations.

News that the Duchess was co-designing a garden with landscape architects Andrée Davies and Adam White of Davies White Landscape Architects, who specialise in children’s playful landscapes and gardens, led to a surge in ticket sales.

Building on the Duchess’s passion for the outdoors and the benefits of nature on physical and mental health, the space has been designed with families in mind and will be a place of retreat for both children and adults.

As well as a play area, there will be spaces for children to learn and discover.

Inspired by the Duchess’s own childhood, the garden is centred around a large treehouse, with a high platform clad in stag horn oak.

The treehouse will feature a swing set hanging from its branches, to create a space where children and families can play together.

A waterfall and stream will offer places to paddle and relax, as well as opportunities to teach children how to build dams.

Children can also learn to climb and balance on a hollow log, while rocks and stepping stones complete the fun space.

Wild trees and natural materials will help create the woodland environment, while planting will include edible produce, food for wildlife and nectar to encourage pollinators to the garden.

Finally, a textured pathway with foliage borders will create a tactile space for the whole family to enjoy.

The green and blue colour scheme of the garden will help create a relaxing and calming space for visitors, something the Duchess is keen to promote through her work with mental health charities.

The RHS Back to Nature Garden is centred around a treehouse with swing set
Richard Carman

Pictures of keen gardener Kate working alongside her professional colleagues to design the garden were released on the Kensington Palace Twitter account this week.

"“The Duchess has worked with @the_rhs and Davies White to design and build the garden, to highlight how being active in nature can positively impact our physical and mental health," the Palace said in a statement.

"The garden has a natural woodland feel and contains lots of unique design features to inspire families to get outside and explore nature together.”

The trio are designing another garden for the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July and a permanent space at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, which will open in autumn 2019.

The RHS Back to Nature Garden will be set in woodland and unveiled at the show on Tuesday. After Chelsea some of the planting from the garden will be donated to an NHS Mental Heath Trust.

It is one of the many Show Gardens along the Main Avenue of the flower show, where leading designers compete for the coveted gold gong.

The gardens themselves present a variety of themes and ideas for visitors to walk between, from designer Tom Dixon and Ikea's vision of the future of urban farming, to award-winning landscape designer Sarah Eberle's garden exploring the challenges facing forests as a result of climate change.

People hoping to spruce up their own gardens can shop for plants, tools and much more at the show.

Member tickets for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show cost between £42 and £94, and public tickets cost between £45 and £107. Tickets are limited and are expected to sell out soon.

The event takes place in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, between Tuesday May 21 and Saturday May 25.

RHS members are able to attend the show from its opening day, while members of the public can visit from Thursday, May 23 onwards.