Tales from the Riverbank · RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 · SE805
RHS Chelsea
Flower Show 2026
Flower Show 2026
Balcony Garden
Lot SE805
Lot SE805
A balcony garden — RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026
Balcony Garden · SE805
A green sanctuary conceived on the deck of a houseboat — where a simpler way of life blends seamlessly with the surrounding riverbank.
The Garden
Productive, practical, and beautiful — a green sanctuary created in the smallest of spaces.
Set on the deck of a houseboat, this garden provides a glimpse of how nature can flourish in the most modest of footprints. It showcases traditional craftsmanship, reminiscent of a bygone era, against the soft palette of a Surrey riverbank.
Soft natural planting complements the riverbank environment, giving the garden an unmistakeable sense of place — neither forced nor contrived, but entirely of its surroundings.
The Philosophy
The garden imagines a life lived close to the water, where the boundary between cultivated and wild is deliberately blurred. Everything grown here earns its place: edible, beautiful, or both.
From the rooftop kitchen garden to the handcrafted outdoor kitchen, every element demonstrates what is possible when space is a constraint and imagination is not. The dipping tank — harvesting rainwater and home to a curated selection of aquatics — is at once a design statement and working infrastructure.
Herbs are grown as edimentals: chosen as much for their form and flower as for their use in the kitchen. This is a garden that feeds, that delights, and that endures.
Garden highlights
Vegetables, fruits, and herbs across the full breadth of the houseboat roof — a working kitchen garden above the waterline.
Rainwater harvesting home to Baldellia, Caltha, and aquatic mint — functional beauty at its most considered.
A Big Green Egg at the heart of a handcrafted outdoor space, designed for cooking from the harvest.
Brampton Willows hurdle fencing and ByBoon reclaimed scaffold board cladding — traditional materials, impeccably sourced.
Designer
LCGD — Distinction in Garden Design, Planting Design & Plantsmanship
Garden and planting designer and former florist, Susie Kennedy graduated from the London College of Garden Design with Distinctions in Garden Design, Planting Design and Plantsmanship, and was awarded the Judge’s Award for her final planting design project.
Her work blends timeless romantic planting with a strong focus on sustainability, biodiversity, and climate resilience. She runs Kennedys’ Garden Design Studio from the Surrey Hills, and in 2025 designed the Monastic Healing Garden at RHS Hampton Court — the project that inspired her ambition to exhibit at Chelsea.
Designer
CIAT — Distinction in Planting Design & Plantsmanship · Member of CIHort
A Chartered Architectural Technologist by training, Kate Henning brought her eye for structure and material to garden design after founding a garden maintenance business in 2014. She later trained at the London College of Garden Design, earning distinctions in Planting Design and Plantsmanship.
She launched her Planting Design Studio in 2025. Kate grows vegetables on her allotment and lives on a houseboat in Surrey — a life that made her the natural co-creator for this particular garden.
The plant list
Every plant chosen for its beauty, purpose, and resonance with the riverbank environment. Stars of the show include Crataegus x lavalleei ‘Carrierei’, Malus x zumi ‘Golden Hornet’, Camellia sinensis, and Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’.
Aquatics
Herbs
Kitchen garden
Fruits
Garden planting
Growing & cooking
Author · Veg grower · Fortnum & Mason Vegetable Expert
Throughout the show, Kathy will be at the heart of the garden — demonstrating how the harvest from these containers can be transformed into extraordinary food on the Big Green Egg. A living argument for the idea that the smallest growing space can feed you well.
Kathy is a journalist, author and broadcaster whose work centres on the deep connection between growing food and living well. She is Fortnum & Mason’s vegetable expert, and the author of Rough Patch — a memoir about how a year in the garden brought her back to life, described by Kate Humble as “transformative, life-affirming, inspiring.”
“Even in a small space, you can think big. Just from this tiny plot, we’ve made a BBQ supper of flatbreads stuffed with charred veg and kale pesto.”
— Kathy Slack · Rough Patch
Featured partner
The outdoor kitchen at the heart of ‘Tales from the Riverbank’ is anchored by the iconic Big Green Egg — the ceramic kamado cooker that has built a passionate following across the world since 1974. Made from NASA-grade ceramics, it provides unrivalled heat retention, control, and durability, with a lifetime warranty to match.
Whether grilling the garden’s harvest, slow-smoking, baking, or running a rotisserie, all eight cooking modes are available from a single fire.
Principal sponsor — Tales from the Riverbank, Chelsea 2026
“Independent by name, independent by nature.”
Independent Property Agents · Est. 2004
About Kennedys’
Kennedys’ is an independent, family-run property agent based in Walton on the Hill, Surrey. Founded by Peter and Susie Kennedy, the agency offers a fresh approach to estate agency — the lessons of two decades executed with modern methods and genuine care for every client.
A tailored experience for sellers and landlords; inventive and knowledgeable for buyers and tenants. Independent in every sense of the word.
The Surrey Hills
The Surrey Hills has a long-established history of drawing buyers from the city — a geographical sweet spot with London, the coast, Heathrow and Gatwick all within an hour, and some of the finest preserved green spaces in the country on the doorstep.
World class schooling, leisure, and infrastructure. It is easy to see why this particular corner of England endures as one of the most coveted addresses in the country.
With thanks to
Big Fish Landscapes
Landscaper and aquatics specialist for the garden.
Brampton Willows
Handmade woven willow hurdle fences from sustainably sourced English-grown willow, crafted in Suffolk for almost 40 years.
bramptonwillows.co.ukByBoon
Signature timber cladding and decking from reclaimed scaffold boards — characterful, durable, responsibly sourced.
byboon.co.ukKate Tarling Textiles
A textile map hanging depicting the Thames from source to sea, using freehand machine embroidery, appliqué, and hand embroidery.
katetarlingtextiles.comThe Dipping Tank Company
British-designed sustainable rainwater harvesting tanks — beautifully designed, eco-friendly, and a defining feature of the garden.
thedippingtankcompany.co.ukBig Green Egg
The iconic ceramic outdoor cooker at the heart of the garden, cooking eight ways from a single fire since 1974.
Kathy Slack
Journalist, author of Rough Patch, and Fortnum & Mason’s vegetable expert. Creating dishes from the garden’s harvest throughout the show.
Protek Wood Care
Innovative water-based woodcare in over 160 colours, trusted by professionals for over 40 years.
protekproducts.co.ukWith special thanks
Dennett Boat Builders · Nauticalia · Bill’s Pots · About Roofing Plus
Visitor offer
A gift from Protek to every visitor of Tales from the Riverbank
Protek is proud to support the garden at RHS Chelsea 2026 and would like to offer all visitors an exclusive 20% discount on their full range of woodcare products, with free shipping included.
Valid until 1st October 2026. Redeem at protekproducts.co.uk at checkout.
Your exclusive discount code
20% off · Free shipping · Expires 1 Oct 2026