United Utilities Garden of Resilience

In more detail

• A green roof helps slow down rainfall flow by 50 percent, letting the water flow through the steel guttering and into the chainlink downpipe
• Foliage and flower texture abound, with hostas, astilbes, ferns and flowering aquilegias giving interest and colour through the season

About the garden

With increasing periods of extreme wet and dry weather likely in the future, garden spaces need to be more climate resilient. This will require a much more considered approach in how we look after and care for our outdoor spaces.

The United Utilities Garden of Resilience provides practical and creative ideas on how water can be managed, conserved and reused, and offers the visitor a place to take time out to refresh and strengthen their own personal resilience.

At the centre of the garden, a sculptural timber pergola with green roof is part of a rainwater-harvesting system, which captures and directs water to a rain garden planter, water feature and water butt bench. A permeable path, constructed from locally-sourced sandstone, feeds water to a sunken rain garden. The planting is resilient to prolonged spells of dry and wet weather and includes Amelanchier lamarckii, Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) and self-seeding perennials.