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RHS COP26 Garden: Decline

The consequences of thoughtless planning, intensive building, and a desire to pave over our front gardens were represented in this zone
 


Visitors were welcomed through the RHS COP26 Garden along a path made of recycled scaffold boards.

To their left, a garden of decline demonstrated oft-repeated mistakes which contribute to global warming, degradation of local habitats, flash flooding or a decline in wildlife.

The other zones

Adaptation
Mitigation
Balance

The design of the zone 'spun' clockwise around the central Universal Window Box with several smaller areas illustrating some familiar and unfamiliar gardening practices.

Visitors were shocked when they are presented with a view of a degradad environment caused by intensive urbanisation in which small pioneer plants or weeds such as bramble, bindweed and daisies competed for space with discarded building materials and rubbish.

Problems illustrated in the Decline quarter

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A lush green lawn is beautiful to look at and perfect to play on, but without balance can lead to a monoculture
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An overwatered, clipped front lawn, flooding and building detritus come together to shock in the Decline quarter
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Some greenery is better than none, but better still is a variety of plants to create a habitat
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A lush green lawn is beautiful to look at and perfect to play on, but without balance can lead to a monoculture
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An overwatered, clipped front lawn, flooding and building detritus come together to shock in the Decline quarter
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Some greenery is better than none, but better still is a variety of plants to create a habitat
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As the eye wandered beyond the initial shocking image, guests were presented with a represntative of intensive drainage and impermeable surfaces, seen in towns and cities across the country and causing increasing problems.

The consequence of a lack of natural drainage was represented in a flood with partialy submerged paving and building debris.

Take home tips

  1. A perfect, bowling-green lawn was a key feature here, because it represents a relatively lifeless monoculture, and it also requires lots of inputs such as water and fertiliser. Consider whether you really need those perfect stripes...
  2. While an increasing number of plants are being affected by pests and diseases, there are generally plenty of suitable alternatives. Here the European horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) was being plagued by leaf mining insects: Indian horse chestnut (Aesculus indica) would make a fantastic pest-free alternative.
  3. Consider where your hard landscaping materials are coming from. Try to source locally-made and recycled products in preference to imported ones wherever possible. 



Beyond the flood was a representation of a typical suburban garden featuring an over-watered, clipped lawn, in effect monoculture, representing a lifeless habitat. This lead on to a functional ‘grey’ front garden containing impermeable paving and evergreen plants that provide a poor habitat for pollinators.

The edges of this zone are defined by an Aesculus hippocastanum 'Baumanii' (horse chestnut), the scaffold path and a dead hedge.

The plants used in this quarter are not necessarily problematic and all have their uses in the right place. But some may need counter-balancing with another species to create an ideal environment.

The Mitigation quarter of the RHS COP26 Garden showcased ways in which to do this and provided a solution to all the corresponding problems in the Decline zone.
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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.