This star-studded garden is hoping to inspire a new generation of gardeners
When the RHS and The King’s Foundation announced that Frances Tophill would be joined by David Beckham and Alan Titchmarsh to design her first-ever garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, it was clear this would be one of the show’s most talked-about spaces.
Now, as Chelsea opens its gates for another year, visitors are finally getting a first look at the much-anticipated collaboration. Here’s what to know — and why the garden’s quietest details are its most meaningful.
The RHS and The King’s Foundation Curious Garden is, by Chelsea standards, surprisingly understated. A colourful mix of shrubs, wildflowers, vegetables and herbs spills out around a gazebo-like timber structure, painted sunshine yellow and topped with a corrugated roof. Terracotta pots and weathered stones are dotted throughout the space, while a charmingly patinated bistro set offers a quiet spot to sit and take it all in.
If it all feels a little understated, that’s entirely the point. This is not a garden designed to dazzle in the traditional Chelsea sense, but to inspire. At its heart is an effort to reignite the nation’s interest in horticulture — one that supports both human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Ultimately, the garden hopes to encourage a new generation of gardeners, environmentalists and rural craftspeople to see horticulture as not only valuable, but a meaningful career path, too.
It’s a lofty mission, but one that feels entirely on-brand for everyone involved. For King Charles, the garden is a natural extension of two causes he has championed for decades: youth empowerment and environmental sustainability.
For David Beckham — an ambassador for The King’s Foundation since 2024 and a passionate hobby gardener long before that — it offers a chance to share the quieter side of his life beyond football. Gardening, he has previously said, brings him purpose, calm and a creative outlet.
And for Frances Tophill, whose Gardeners’ World Live show garden at Birmingham’s NEC four years ago imagined a stark post-apocalyptic future shaped by climate collapse and global conflict, the project is an opportunity to put one of her long-held beliefs into practice. She sees gardens — and a connection to nature more broadly — as a vital first step in tackling both the climate crisis and a growing social one.
'We're all angry because we feel there's nothing we can do about the way things go,' Frances said in an interview with the Telegraph ahead of Chelsea. 'People don't think they will be listened to.'
Planting and growing, particularly when done collectively, offers a way to regain a sense of control. That idea sits at the heart of the Curious Garden and, in stark contrast to Frances’ bleak Gardeners’ World design from four years ago, this garden feels markedly more hopeful. It is the product of collaboration — a joyful meeting of minds and values, reflected in everything from the planting choices to the structure itself.
In the garden you'll spot seven raised plant beds nodding to David's football career and the number 7 shirt he wore for both Manchester United and the England National Team. The garden also features delphiniums, a favourite of the King's, and a vegetable patch planted with chard, kale and cabbages in tribute to David's 26-acre Cotswolds estate, where he grows much of his own produce.
All of these thoughtful nods and tributes have been brought together by Frances Tophill and her prolific collaborator, Alan Titchmarsh.
The garden is filled with meaningful planting and quietly symbolic details. Beside David Beckham’s vegetable patch, for example, wheat has been planted to represent the practical counterparts of plant groups more often valued for their ornamental beauty in gardens. Mulberry bushes, meanwhile, were chosen for their ecological importance: their leaves are the sole food source of silkworms, whose cocoons are used to produce silk.
A small seating area in front of the building offers a quiet spot to sit and take in the surrounding planting. Here, a mix of flowers, herbs, shrubs and trees are underplanted and woven together.
The central oak building houses a 'museum of curiosities'. Inside, fabrics and cordage woven from plants sit alongside natural plant dyes, while dried flowers hang from the beams overhead. Shelves are filled with ferments, pickles, jams, infusions and oils — all highlighting the many ways plants shape our homes, daily rituals and working lives.
The Curious Garden celebrates plants and horticulture in all their facets, so it made sense for the space to be entirely natural. 'With sustainability front and central for His Majesty, there are no man-made materials being used in the garden,' said Frances.
The garden is framed by mixed native broadleaf hedging, while the areas surrounding the oak building are planted with shade-loving woodland species. Elsewhere, vibrant herbaceous borders bring bursts of colour throughout the space. Every plant has been chosen with purpose: many support pollinators, while others reflect the economic and practical ways plants are used commercially around the world.
David Beckham's very own Sir David Beckham Rose is also featured in the garden. Bred by David Austin Roses, the English shrub variety was inspired by a sweet gesture from Harper Beckham for her father’s 50th birthday. Its creamy-white blooms, softly flushed with blush pink and golden yellow tones, are paired with a rich honeyed fragrance — a subtle reference to the former footballer's well-documented love of beekeeping.
Tucked among the foliage, keen-eyed visitors may spot a small garden gnome — a playful nod to this year’s RHS campaign, which sees celebrity-painted figurines auctioned to raise funds for the next generation of gardeners.
Or perhaps, it's a nod to the gnome said to mysteriously roam King Charles' Highgrove estate. 'It seems to move around,' Melissa Harrison, head of horticulture at The King's Foundation, said in conversation with Frances. 'I'm sure it's the boss, moving it around, just to keep us on our feet.'
After the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the garden will be relocated to a college for young adults, where its planting will continue to serve a purpose. Dye plants from the garden will be used by fashion students, while the vegetables and herbs will support catering students — extending the garden’s celebration of useful plants long after Chelsea comes to an end.
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