Tate Britain reveals garden concept at Chelsea Flower Show

The Tate Britain Garden is the gallery’s first ever garden at the show.

It offers a preview of the planned Clore Garden, a new public green space set to open at Tate Britain in 2027.

Both gardens have been designed by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith and are supported by the Clore Duffield Foundation; the Tate Britain Garden is also funded by Project Giving Back, and the Clore Garden has support from the Julia Rausing Trust.

Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain, said: “Visitors will come to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this week to see the latest and best in horticultural design, so it is wonderful to be able to offer garden lovers a taste of the exciting new Clore Garden at Tate Britain.

“We are delighted to mark this special occasion with the display of one of our best-loved sculptures from the nation’s collection of British art and to share this early evocation of such a unique and bold reimagining of museum space.”

At the heart of the Chelsea garden is Dame Barbara Hepworth’s limestone sculpture Bicentric Form 1949, the first time a work of art from the national collection has been exhibited within a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

After the show, the sculpture will be relocated to the Clore Garden, where it will join other pieces from Tate’s collection in an outdoor setting.

The garden incorporates several elements that will be featured in the new Clore Garden.

Stone from Tate Britain’s Millbank site has been repurposed as paving to form a curved pathway.

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A gold water channel runs through the garden, creating a tranquil atmosphere with the sound of flowing water.

The channel and nearby water bowls are 3D-printed with designs inspired by mycorrhizal fungi, which aids decomposition in a garden, and whose presence is a sign of biodiversity and garden health.

A central bench, designed as a “learning circle,” is made from recycled materials, including old paving from Tate Britain and cockleshells from the Thames Estuary.

This gathering place reflects the garden’s emphasis on community and education. In the Clore Garden, the space will be large enough to seat a class of 30 schoolchildren.

Planting in the garden draws from East Asian woodlands and uses drought-tolerant species suited to London’s warming climate.

Many of the plants featured at Chelsea will also appear in the Clore Garden, including fig trees and Schefflera shweliensis, a broadleaf evergreen from the Himalayas.

Trees providing shade include Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez,’ while Cycas revoluta, also known as Japanese sago palm, adds structure and interest.

The planting scheme is designed for year-round appeal, with species that flower and fruit in different seasons—from Melia azedarach (Persian lilacs) in late spring to Magnolia grandiflora (evergreen magnolias) in early autumn.

Show visitors will see vibrant pops of colour, such as the yellow blooms of Roldana petasitis (velvet groundsel), complemented by glossy Farfugium japonicum (leopard plant) and the deep burgundy flowers of Melianthus major (great honey flower).

Following the close of the Chelsea Flower Show, the garden will be relocated to Tate Britain’s Millbank site and integrated into the wider Clore Garden project, which is scheduled to open in 2027.

From June 15, 2026, Tate Britain will also launch Living Gardens—a free, year-long display featuring works from the Tate Collection that explore the role of gardens in artistic inspiration and experimentation throughout the 20th century.

Featured artists will include Ethel Sands and Derek Jarman.

Mr Stuart-Smith, who designed both the Chelsea and Clore gardens, said: “It is exciting to be able to make a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show incorporating such a significant work by one of this country’s most remarkable artists of the last 100 years.

“Hepworth was very progressive in showing her work in a garden context and we are using very bold textures and forms as a counterpoint to the dark, smooth stone of the sculpture.

“I think she would approve.”

The Clore Garden, developed in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society, aims to become an inviting, sustainable green space for visitors to Tate Britain.

The garden is designed to complement the gallery’s neo-classical architecture, display sculpture, and support biodiversity while remaining resilient to climate change.

It will also feature a new single-storey garden classroom, designed by Feilden Fowles, where both school groups and adult learners can explore the relationship between art and nature through hands-on workshops.

Tate Britain houses the world’s greatest collection of British art, spanning more than 500 years.

The gallery welcomes over a million visitors each year and is known for major programmes such as the Turner Prize, the Tate Britain Commission, and Art Now.

Tate Britain’s garden project is backed by the Clore Duffield Foundation, chaired by Dame Vivien Duffield and celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024.

The foundation supports charities across the arts, education, social welfare, and health.

Project Giving Back, the charity funding good cause gardens at Chelsea, is also supporting the Tate Britain Garden.

Launched in 2021, the charity was created in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on UK fundraising and aims to boost UK-based good causes by giving them an opportunity to raise awareness of their work at the high-profile RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as well as supporting the relocation of the gardens to permanent homes after the show where they can continue to benefit the charities and their communities.

Crocus, which built the garden, has a long history of collaborating with Mr Stuart-Smith at Chelsea.

This is their 11th joint project at the show.

Crocus has constructed 38 show gardens, earning 35 gold medals and 13 Best in Show awards since it was founded in 2000.

The Tate Britain Garden offers a glimpse of how art, nature, and community can come together in a public space and marks a fresh direction for museums as places of relaxation, learning, and creativity.