The Glasshouse Garden
Designed by Jo Thompson
RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW 2025
As the only female designer of a large show garden at RHS Chelsea this year, Jo Thompson makes a powerful statement with The Glasshouse Garden — a bold celebration of feminine strength, second chances, and the life-changing power of nature.
The planting is bold, textural, and deeply feminine, featuring river birch trees, ferns, grasses, and a variety of roses. The planting is rich and layered, with a tapestry of jewel-like colours and a variety of textures in both leaves and bark.
Jo Thompson is one of the UK’s most celebrated garden designers and plantswomen. Renowned for her exquisite planting and masterful use of colour, Jo is a multi-award-winning designer with 9 RHS Chelsea medals. Jo creates gardens around the world — from the UK and Europe to New York and Brazil.
“My first meeting with the women of The Glasshouse was possibly one of the most thought-provoking days of my life. Whatever happened, I was going to pour my heart and soul into designing a garden for these women, a garden which would be for them as well as represent them. A garden that would encourage people to think about what second chances can mean – for the individual women but also for our society as a whole. We can’t expect outcomes to change if a woman does not have somewhere stable to live, returns to a violent relationship, or is unemployable through lack of training.”
Jo Thompson designed The Glasshouse Garden to celebrate the transformative power of second chances through horticulture. Inspired by the women of The Glasshouse, Jo has created a space filled with aspiration, hope and feminine strength.
The Glasshouse Garden reflects the sense of purpose, self-belief and hope offered by The Glasshouse, which provides horticulture training, employment and resettlement support to women in prison as they prepare for life beyond custody.
In approaching the design, Jo spent time meeting the women in The Glasshouse programme and was asked to bring a series of sensory features into the garden – the ability to see and hear water, to smell fragrant plants and to be inspired by nature’s beauty. Every detail of the garden responds to these requests with care and creativity.
With a 0% reoffending rate, The Glasshouse programme is breaking the cycle of re-offending, and offering women practical skills, work experience and self-belief to work toward a better future.
The garden is centred around a translucent elliptical pavilion that emerges from the foliage. Designed in collaboration with Hollaway Studio, the pavilion offers a calm, private space for women to speak with support staff, sit quietly, or connect with others outside of the standard prison environment. Its pivoting screens are made from recycled acrylic, tinted to reflect the colour palette of plants in the garden. The bespoke colour palette of deep reds and pinks with soft peach and apricot highlights were chosen by Jo to reflect the notion of “strong beauty”.
A stone water rill makes its way through the garden, linking each area and culminating in a tranquil pool. The soothing sound of water, the scent of fragrant plants, and dappled light through the canopy of trees brings life to the garden’s natural textures—bark, stone, and leaf. Wooden benches and weathered stone boulders offer tactile, restful seating, while varying tree heights frame views through the garden.
“This is a garden with a strong legacy, It’s not just about beauty — it’s about creating lasting change.”
After the show, the garden will be re-created at HMP Downview, a women’s prison in Surrey, where it will become a permanent sanctuary—a place of learning, healing, and rehabilitation for a new community of women supported by The Glasshouse.
Planting with Purpose
More than 75% of the garden is dedicated to planting. River birch (Betula nigra) and Zelkova serrata trees form a light, delicate canopy. The peeling bark of Betula nigra, in warm peachy tones, complements the pavilion’s tinted panels.
Roses take centre stage, including varieties like ‘Tuscany Superb’, ‘Wild Rover’, and ‘Emma Bridgewater’. They are paired with Iris sibirica ‘Paprikash’, Allium ‘Eros’, Digitalis ‘Sutton’s Apricot’, Papaver ‘Patty’s Plum’, Baptisia ‘Burgundy Blast’, Delphinium x ruysii ‘Pink Sensation’ and Geum ‘Mai Tai’. Geum rivale adds warm sunset tones, some thriving along the rill’s natural edge.
Jo’s bespoke colour palette draws on the idea of “strong beauty”, blending deep reds and pinks with soft peach and apricot—a tribute to feminine strength and resilience.
“Through the nurturing power of plants, the rewards of hard work and rediscovering one’s own value, we give women second chances, to find a better way of living for themselves, their families and society.”
The Pavilion
Designed by Hollaway Studio and made from recycled acrylic with a soft four-colour tint and textured finish, the pavilion offers both privacy and light, creating a calm, uplifting space. Set on a floor of reclaimed British stone, hand-split for a raw, organic texture, the pavilion blends sustainability with elegant beauty.
Its open structure—without sides or a back wall—ensures seamless connection to the garden, while a sedum roof with hidden integrated drainage sends rainwater into surrounding planting and the water rill. A roof light draws the eye upward, inviting quiet reflection beneath the sky.
Designed as a multifunctional space for meeting, learning, and planning for the future, the pavilion will be relocated to HMP Downview after the show, where it will continue to support rehabilitation through horticultural training and connection with nature.
Water and Stone
The stone water rill begins at a natural source at the back of the garden and flows through the garden, shifting from organic to more formal in design.
Reclaimed British stone is used throughout: in the water rill, pathways, pavilion flooring, and as naturalistic boulders. Each piece was selected for its character, colour, and texture. Many of the boulders, adorned with moss and ferns, serve as seating or visual anchors. The pathways are softened by self-seeded plants grown in sheep’s wool, supporting biodiversity and evoking age and authenticity.
Seating and Furniture
Tactile wooden benches invite moments of stillness. Inside the pavilion, elegant seating by Italian furniture maker Bonacina, crafted from recycled materials that mimic natural rattan, create a serene, sustainable interior. Large moss-covered boulders double as informal seating throughout the garden
Sustainable by Design
Sustainability is embedded throughout the garden. The pavilion’s steel frame is made from part recycled steel, and the tinted acrylic is an eco-conscious alternative to virgin materials. Sedum roofing, self-seeded pathways, and all the stone has been sourced as waste or by-product from small British quarries to reduce environmental impact.
After the show, materials not appropriate for the prison setting will be returned or repurposed, ensuring nothing goes to waste.
Legacy
The Glasshouse mission goes beyond skills training. It builds pride, connection to nature, and confidence in every participant—laying the foundation for women to rebuild their lives upon release. The Glasshouse has a 0% percent reoffending rate while the average re-offending rate among women is 58%, according to the Prison Reform Trust.
The creation of this garden at RHS Chelsea celebrates the journeys of women who completed The Glasshouse programme. In its permanent new home at HMP Downview, The Glasshouse Garden will provide a space in contrast to the prison environment, with sensory elements to inspire and support women and an opportunity to experience nature and the possibility of better outcomes for everyone.
The Glasshouse Garden is generously funded by Project Giving Back, the grant-giving charity that supports gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
The Glasshouse Garden has been made possible thanks to funding from Project Giving Back, a charitable organisation that supports gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea and in communities around the UK. Find out more at givingback.org.uk
A heartfelt thank you to Jo and her team for taking the time to truly understand life in prison and bringing a dream to life that will help women in custody feel hope and find a better future.
Additional thanks for support in building the garden and for funding the inclusion of The Glasshouse team on the journey.
How you can help
Learn more about The Glasshouse
Buy special Chelsea editions
Buy plants and products
Recommend or use The Glasshouse’s award-winning indoor planting services in London offices
Donate
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