An outdoor laboratory, built into a hillside, takes visitors down into the landscape, offering an ‘insect’s eye view’ and a space in which to study. The lab’s roof structure is inspired by a compound insect eye and the lab is used for real scientific research, monitoring and studying insects visiting the garden.
Diverse topography across the site — rammed earth floors, hoggin pathways, dead wood, piles of rubble, bare sand and gabion walls — provide numerous and varied habitats for insects. Water in still pools and flowing streams provides additional important insect habitats and adds interest to the aesthetic and soundscape of the garden.
A dead tree ‘sculpture’, cut into rings and elevated on steel poles, ‘floats’ over biodiverse planting and a standing dead tree and tree stump provide further sculptural habitat. Planting for pollinators and a wide range of other beneficial insects forms a beautiful and resilient scheme that will provide year-round food, habitats and interest.
After the show, the garden will be relocated to a permanent location at IQL Stratford in East London as a long-term opportunity for learning and insect research.
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Balcony Gardens
The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You Places
The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You PlacesFeature Gardens
RHS Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration
RHS Garden of Royal Reflection and CelebrationBalcony Gardens
The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You Places
The Doorstep Library Garden: Words Take You PlacesFeature Gardens
RHS Garden of Royal Reflection and Celebration
RHS Garden of Royal Reflection and CelebrationGet involved
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.