Plumpton College and Frogheath apprentice, Oli Leonard Best, was part of the build team of Seawilding, one of the gardens built by Frogheath Landscapes at Chelsea Flower Show 2025. Read what he did on the build and his experience of Chelsea in this blog.

Introduction

Frogheath Landscapes have been training apprentices for over 20 years. Many of our apprentices have gone on to be successful landscapers, either within the company or through starting their own business. This includes Henry Duck from Studio Create, which operates in Dubai.

Most recently, Frogheath Landscapes has been recognised as “Apprentice Employer Of The Year” at Plumpton College, for their commitment to training apprentices in landscaping and horticulture.

Frogheath Landscapes were approached by two garden designers to build their garden at Chelsea Flower Show in 2025. Oli spent a week travelling up to the site of the show in the grounds of Royal Hospital Chelsea, to contribute to the build of his first show garden “Seawilding” designed by Ryan McMahon from Musa Landscape Architecture.

Day 1:

When we arrived on site the organisers were still digging the footings for our garden. This meant we could only unload some of the tools and materials from our vans. There is so much traffic and machinery, slots to stop, unload and move are very tight.

Day 2:

Today we built the main structure of the stand with sleepers and laid the concrete base for the water tank. We then put in posts with ply wood for back wall of the garden. These stand about 4m tall. We added soil to the garden in preparation for planting. Lastly, we started the side wall of rocks.

Day 3:

Today we finished off side wall of rocks. The big job for the day was to put the water tank on the concrete base. This will be where the sea grass is planted and displayed. The seating area for the garden features large rocks which we installed. Towards the end of the day, we started planting trees.

Day 4:

The large back wall was painted with black paint. We complimented the finished side walls and front of the stand with rocks and placed in the rock steps. To finish the week, we planted more trees and put in the hedges at the back.

What Oli says about the Chelsea experience:

“I’ve felt very tired because of long days but I have managed to have a nice rest this weekend and feel ready for this coming week. I have had a great time and glad I’ve had the opportunity to be part of it all.” Seawilding’s designer, Ryan McMahon, was asked what he thought about Oli’s performance: “I had no idea he was an apprentice!” He exclaimed. “He just got on with the job, worked really well with the team and showed great initiative.”

The finished Chelsea Garden:

The following week, Oli was relocated to a local project with another Frogheath Landscapes team, whose work continued in gardens across East Sussex throughout the entire Chelsea Garden build time. Thanks to his efforts, the hard landscaping was mostly complete, with Ryan and a small team of volunteers focusing on planting in the second week.

On Tuesday 20^th May, Medals Day at Chelsea, it was announced that Seawilding received a Gold Medal. This was the first time that seagrass was feature at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and highlights the increasing importance of marine conservation in the fight against climate change. On hearing the news, Oli said: “I’m very grateful to have the experience and be part of building the garden, it was good fun!”

Conclusion

Everyone involved in the build of both gardens, from admin and logistics through to transport, build and planting has worked hard and Frogheath Director Steve Moody is very proud of the team effort. With apprentices like Oli getting such a good start in their landscaping careers, the future is looking bright for the industry.