Haslemere garden designer Katy Terry has won a prestigious Silver-Gilt Medal for her debut garden at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

Sponsored by Project Giving Back, The ADHD Foundation Garden was designed to encourage visitors to “think differently about thinking differently”. Drawing a powerful parallel between the diverse, adaptive nature of plants and the unique ways neurodivergent minds work, the garden offers a gently stimulating and inclusive space intended to reflect the experience of people with ADHD.

For Katy, the project is deeply personal. She was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, one of many women in the UK whose symptoms were missed in childhood.

“After spending time with the ADHD Foundation to better understand how people with ADHD think, including myself, I became passionate about creating an outdoor space that could reflect that inner world,” she said.

The garden itself is calm but sensory, without overwhelming stimuli or mental demands. It features an immersive path and layered planting – trees, shrubs and perennials chosen to reflect individuality and difference. Katy’s design invites visitors to rethink common assumptions about attention, behaviour and learning styles.

ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, affects an estimated 1.5 million people in the UK, yet many remain undiagnosed. While 3 to 5 per cent of children are thought to have the condition, diagnosis in girls is frequently missed, with symptoms often dismissed as daydreaming or anxiety. Around 2.5 to 4 per cent of UK adults are living with ADHD, and NHS waiting lists for assessment currently stretch beyond two years in many areas.

After its showcase at Chelsea this week, The ADHD Foundation Garden will be relocated to a permanent home at the University of Liverpool, where it will continue to raise awareness and provide a therapeutic space for reflection.