Penn Wood inspires Chelsea garden
The Woodland Trust’s 'Forgotten Forests' garden at Chelsea 2026 will be inspired by Penn Wood near Beaconsfield and is designed for the show by landscape designer Ashleigh Aylett. (Bucks Free Press reported the Penn Wood inspiration and Aylett’s design role). (bucksfreepress.co.uk)
Penn Wood, an ancient woodland near Beaconsfield, is inspiring a show garden at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in May 2026. (bucksfreepress.co.uk) The garden is called Woodland Trust: Forgotten Forests Garden, and the Royal Horticultural Society lists Ashleigh Aylett as its designer and CJ Landscapes as its builder. (rhs.org.uk) The Woodland Trust said visitors will move through a scene that starts as a dark conifer plantation and ends as a restored ancient woodland with more light, color and habitat. (woodlandtrust.org.uk) The charity is using the Chelsea garden to press for stronger legal protection and a national rescue plan for ancient woods that were planted over with non-native conifers after the Second World War. (woodlandtrust.org.uk) Penn Wood fits that message because it is one of the Chilterns’ best-known ancient woods, and the Bucks Free Press said its landscape helped shape the 2026 design. (bucksfreepress.co.uk) The Royal Horticultural Society says the exhibit sits in its All About Plants category, which focuses on plant-led ideas rather than larger show-garden builds. (rhs.org.uk) Project Giving Back is funding the garden, with additional support from Lloyds Banking Group and Hillier Nurseries, according to the Woodland Trust. (woodlandtrust.org.uk) The Woodland Trust says the 2026 Chelsea Flower Show runs from May 19 to May 23, when the Penn Wood-inspired planting will turn a Buckinghamshire woodland story into a national display. (woodlandtrust.org.uk)
