Award winning rainforest garden from Chelsea Flower Show takes root
It’s the garden which captured the hearts of horticulturists everywhere. The rainforest garden won a RHS People’s Choice award at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the judges Silver Gilt Medal.
Fast forward just a few months and Bristol Zoo Project’s unveiling of the garden shines a light on one of the UK’s rarest habitats. The goal is to bring rainforest landscapes to the Bristol area for the first time.
The garden itself is part of a 100-year project, backed by Aviva, to restore Britain’s temperate rainforests. The Wildlife Trusts’ British Rainforest Garden is set within a site seven times larger than its original RHS Chelsea Flower Show footprint.
The rainforest garden features a canopy of native trees created from hazels, field maples and silver birch, with lush undergrowth, lichen-encrusted trunks, honeysuckle and ivy.
The garden is wheelchair accessible with seating, enabling visitors to soak up the experience. It also contains signage about temperate rainforests – one of the UK’s rarest and most precious habitats.
‘We are thrilled that Bristol Zoo Project has become the new home for the British Rainforest Garden,’ says Brian Zimmerman, Director of Conservation and Science at Bristol Zoological Society.
‘It has been fascinating to see it taking shape in our Sanctuary Garden in recent weeks, ahead of the grand opening.’
‘We hope it will give visitors an opportunity to reflect on the health and wellbeing benefits natural habitats can bring, as well as the importance of these precious environments.’
‘We look forward to seeing the garden mature and grow, and the enjoyment it will bring to so many people.’
‘To spark wonder and connection’
Designed by Zoe Claymore and sponsored by grant-giving charity Project Giving Back, the garden’s first outing was at the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, where it won a coveted RHS People’s Choice award in the All About Plants category.
‘Seeing the British Rainforest Garden find a permanent home at Bristol Zoo Project feels incredibly special,’ says Zoe.
‘This garden was designed to spark wonder and connection, to remind people that rainforests aren’t just faraway places, but part of our own landscape here in Britain.’
‘It’s exciting this garden will grow alongside this fantastic 100—year programme to safeguard these rainforests for the future.’
The Wildlife Trusts’ RHS Chelsea garden’s CGI visual. Image: © Zoe Claymore (provided by Bristol Zoological Society).
The Wildlife Trusts are supported by the UK’s leading diversified insurer Aviva, whose backing has enabled the charity to share the rainforest story on a national stage.
‘Our beautiful rainforest garden richly deserves this opportunity to shine again,’ says Craig Bennett, Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts.
‘I can’t think of a better new home for it than this wonderful zoo, where it’ll have a chance to mature and grow and where generations of children will be able to play in it and learn about our natural world.’
The garden was carefully rehomed by Bristol Zoological Society, a conservation and education charity which runs Bristol Zoo Project, supported by 30 Aviva volunteers.
‘A rare, yet magical, environment’
It can be found in the zoo’s Sanctuary Garden, near the new African Forest habitat, which opens to visitors in spring 2026.
In February 2023, Aviva partnered with the Wildlife Trusts on the Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Programme, a 100-year initiative to restore Britain’s temperate rainforests.
At the time, Aviva’s £38 million pledge was one of the UK’s largest ever corporate donations into nature conservation.
‘The relocation of the rainforest garden to Bristol will mean the public can spend time in a rare, yet magical, environment and see how important it is to preserve our natural British habitats,’ says Claudine Blamey, Chief Sustainability Officer at Aviva.
‘Thank you to the team at Bristol Zoo Project for bringing a taste of temperate rainforests to Bristol, helping the community get ready for the future by ensuring these threatened habits are not consigned to the past.’
Aviva has a large office presence in Bristol. It employs 1,100 people and has a longstanding connection to the city, spanning over 200 years.
Breaktime News recently reported on Bristol Zoological Society winning five industry awards for its work in conserving and protecting the world’s most threatened species.
