A garden sponsored by Thames Water and designed by award-winning horticulturist Tony Woods to withstand the challenges of climate change, including drought and flooding, will be the largest show garden at this year’s Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival.
Visitors to the show, which opens to the public on July 2, will be able to get advice on how to make their own gardens more resilient to extreme weather at the Flourishing Future Garden.
The garden will provide a contrast between plants suited to today’s climate with those that can tolerate very wet and very dry weather and aims to inspire visitors to encourage biodiversity when choosing plants and flowers.
Richard Aylard, sustainability director at Thames Water, commented:
“Climate change is already presenting us with big challenges and they’re ones we need to face head-on to protect water supplies for future generations. We’ve only received average or above average rainfall in three of the last 12 months, meaning the amount of water available is less than normal for this time of year.
“We hope our garden will inspire visitors to be water smart by showing them which plants need very little watering and also those which can survive wetter weather, so they can choose the right ones for their own gardens.”
Features of the Flourishing Future Garden will include:
- bespoke rainfall pavilion and pond to represent the water cycle
- a drought desert
- a wildflower meadow
- innovative examples of sustainable drainage solutions
The sustainable drainage solutions include the use of plants to slow the flow of rainwater into sewers, helping to prevent flooding in urban areas while providing green space for nature.
Garden designer Tony Woods, from Garden Club London, won a gold medal at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show for his Thames Water garden, Urban Flow.
Speaking about his latest project with the water company, he said:
“I am delighted to be working again with Thames Water to create a stunning garden to help their customers be inspired to incorporate biodiversity and sustainability into their gardens and community spaces. We will be displaying contrasting growing conditions borne as a result of climate change, in a fully accessible show garden which we encourage visitors to come and walk through to experience everything it has to offer close up.”
With the UK government demanding a 50% reduction in storm overflow spills by 2029, the era of reactive management is over. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 July 2025, then environment secretary Steve Reed said, “This Government will cut water companies’ sewage pollution in half by the end of the decade.”
ERG, the leading supplier of odour control systems and industrial gas cleaning & thermal systems, has been awarded the coveted King’s Award for Enterprise.
Welsh Water’s new artificial intelligence-driven tool, ORAI, has been shortlisted for three categories at the prestigious British Data Awards 2026 – underscoring the company’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to deliver better outcome for customers.
Barhale has completed work on two separate Rapid Action Taskforce Spills projects it is carrying out for Severn Trent.
Hear how Scottish Water has completed its £235 million Ayrshire Glasgow Resilience Project - customers across Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire and East Renfrewshire will now benefit from a more secure and resilient water supply.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video.