RHS Garden Wisley is one of the world’s great gardens, packed with horticultural inspiration.RHS Garden Wisley is one of the world’s great gardens, packed with horticultural inspiration.

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Growing greener at RHS Garden Wisley

From reducing dependency on oil to adopting socially inclusive and environmentally friendly approaches, the RHS strives toward a greener future

Interesting facts ...

Saving water
Rainwater storage tanks under the car parks can hold enough water to fill three Olympic-sized swimming pools
Cooling the collections
The Herbarium walls are lined with Cornish clay and a hydrostatic liner, which reduces the dependency on air conditioning
Tree-mendous
We’ve planted more than 400 trees to increase biodiversity and installed bat boxes, bird boxes and bug hotels

It’s all about the energy

Our new buildings have been designed to use as little energy as possible. From very high levels of insulation to very low levels of air leakage, every part of their construction takes energy efficiency into account.

Their design also maximises airflow and daylight taking on principles of passive building design. Where necessary natural light is supplemented by LED lighting which uses about 75% less energy than traditional forms of illumination.

Photovoltaic panels on the roof of our latest build, RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science provide an on-site source of renewable electricity, while air-source heat pumps on The Welcome building reduces our reliance on fossil fuels for heating.

Considerate construction

An incredible 99% of the waste generated during construction of RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science has been recycled, while 98% of the waste from the build of RHS Wisley’s Welcome building was also recycled.

Our contractors are all members of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, which means they give back to the community.

The Herbarium and Library, both within RHS Hilltop, have been purpose-built to provide the best possible environmental conditions for the priceless horticultural collections they contain. The thermal mass of the buildings coupled with a state-of-the-art air conditioning system will give big energy savings.

Welcome building opening

View the opening day presentations taken from our live feed and screened on the 10 June - be one of the first to have a look inside the new building. ©RHS

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Water relief

Climate change means water is an increasingly precious resource, particularly in dry areas such as the southeast of England where RHS Garden Wisley is located.

The buildings at RHS Hilltop are fitted with water-efficient toilets and rainwater is attenuated wherever possible. This means that it’s held back within the site, avoiding overloading drains and causing flooding. Excess water will be held in the soon-to-be-built Redwood Lake and will be used for irrigating the surrounding gardens.

Using rainwater instead of tap water also reduces our carbon footprint. Mains water has to be cleaned, stored and delivered to the site, all of which consumes energy.

Green travel

We hope to drive down the number of cars travelling to RHS Garden Wisley and have instigated a Green Travel Plan to encourage visitors to use environmentally-sustainable transport. We are working with travel companies to develop new bus routes and bus stops.

We have connected Wisley with the wider footpath and bridal path network and cycle infrastructure such as bike racks are already in place, along with showers and lockers. This enabled more staff and volunteers to cycle to work. Electric car charge points have been installed for both visitors and staff.

Socially inclusive

We aim to be socially inclusive as well as environmentally sustainable. So alongside taking steps to ensure RHS Wisley is accessible to those without a private car, we are keen to make the gardens a pleasant place to visit, whatever your physical needs.

We have installed a fully registered Changing Places toilet in the Welcome building, replicated in the ‘place for changing’ at RHS Hilltop, both of which provide a safe and comfortable environment for those who cannot use standard facilities. There are accessible toilets, step-free access and accessible trails integrated throughout the site.

These open the gardens up to people who might otherwise not have been able to visit, along with their families or carers.

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Discover our new Wisley Welcome building »

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Read all about RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science »

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.