Breathing well is essential for everyone, yet many overlook the role a garden can play in supporting lung health. Highlighting low-allergen and lung-friendly plants, the Asthma + Lung UK Breathing Space Garden offers a calm, restorative outdoor environment that anyone can bring home to appreciate year-round.
- Low-allergen plants reduce airborne irritants
- Garden design encourages calm breathing and relaxation
- Six key lung-friendly plants to try at home
What happened
At the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the Asthma + Lung UK Breathing Space Garden was unveiled to raise awareness of lung health and breathlessness. Designed by Angus Thompson, the garden embraces the Japanese concept of yohaku no bi, meaning the beauty of empty space, focusing on calmness and uncluttered design rather than dense planting.
This serene garden features low-allergen plants, accessible paths, and quiet seating areas including a ‘breathing platform’ for yoga and breathing therapy. It aims to be a supportive space for people impacted by lung conditions, and it will soon be relocated to a lung rehabilitation center to benefit patients and caregivers.
Why it feels good
Breathing well is integral to managing stress and anxiety, and the garden’s design helps visitors experience relaxation and clearer breathing through open space and gentle natural elements. The calming green and white palette, alongside symbolic pine trees that represent resilience, fosters a peaceful atmosphere where visitors can pause and tune into their breath.
The garden’s creator, whose family has personal experience with respiratory illness, hopes it will inspire moments of calm and clarity. By combining nature with therapeutic practice, it highlights how thoughtful garden design can support emotional and physical wellbeing.
What to enjoy or watch next
For gardeners wanting to create a lung-friendly space, six low-allergen plants featured in the garden are excellent choices. These include Scots pine, known for its air-cleaning properties; soft, cushiony Scleranthus Uniflorus; and the elegant Japanese water iris, perfect by wildlife ponds.
Other plants like Mukdenia ‘Karasuba’, flat-stalked spindle tree, and Rodgers’ bronze-leaf bring natural beauty along with gentle, allergy-safe foliage. For more tips on breathing exercises and lung health support, visit asthmaandlung.org.uk.