Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden

Down’s Syndrome Scotland is delighted to announce that it will be showcasing a show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Down’s Syndrome Scotland, the charity dedicated to helping everyone with Down’s syndrome living in Scotland reach their fullest potential through every age and stage of their life, will showcase a ‘show garden’ at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (20-24 May 2025), before it is installed at Watch US Grow in Palacerigg Country Park, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The Down’s Syndrome Scotland Garden, designed by RHS Chelsea newcomers Nick Burton and Duncan Hall of Burton Hall Garden Design, will be built at the site with the help of a group of young adults with Down’s syndrome. This project has been made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of Project Giving Back, a grant-making charity that supports gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea before relocating them to sites across the UK.

The garden will be an immersive, semi-wooded space celebrating and reflecting the unique qualities that people with Down’s syndrome bring to society. A meandering path leads visitors through two distinct planting areas that convey contrasting moods: one of calmness and the other of playfulness. A water pool that initially appears to be a barrier to progress symbolises the daily challenges faced by people with Down’s syndrome who – despite huge progress in recent years – still experience stigma, often resulting in reduced opportunities and life expectancy. A submerged bridge within the water pool allows the ‘barrier’ to be overcome and visitors arrive at a welcoming shelter designed to look and feel like a warm and comforting ‘hug’.’

Inspired by Duncan’s nephew Liam (aged 7), who has Down’s syndrome and has been supported by Down’s Syndrome Scotland, Duncan Hall and Nick Burton of Burton Hall Garden Design said, “We are delighted to debut our first RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden at the show in May 2025. Visitors will discover a garden that highlights the qualities of people with Down’s syndrome and the issues they face in society. We want to challenge people to embrace the value and potential of people with Down’s syndrome. They have so much to offer us. We have designed a garden full of naturalistic planting with some botanically interesting varieties and are working with some excellent craftspeople to create interesting and inspirational design features.”

Chief Executive of Down’s Syndrome Scotland, Eddie McConnell said, “We are incredibly proud, as a small Scottish charity, to throw a spotlight on the amazing people in our Down’s syndrome community through our RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden. None of this would be possible without the generous support of Project Giving Back. We want the garden to spark meaningful conversations about the challenges, barriers, and misconceptions that people with Down’s syndrome face, so that they can achieve in life what matters most to them. Duncan and Nick have captured the spirit of people with Down’s syndrome brilliantly in their garden design while not shying away from some uncomfortable truths – people with Down’ syndrome, like so many disabled people, still face prejudice and discrimination and that needs to stop.”

A number of people with Down’s syndrome attend Watch US Grow and will be actively involved in the reconstruction of the garden at Palacerigg. The garden is expected to be open to the public in Autumn 2025/Spring 2026.

End of page.