“We spend a lot of time ripping these things out of our garden, not aware of perhaps the amount of wildlife and biodiversity it actually supports.” [Jilayne Rickards designer of the “Fauna and Flora” garden @ the Chelsea Flower Show]
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It’s official – weeds are welcome!
As reported this weekend:
Weeds grow at London’s Chelsea Flower Show
Nettles, dandelions, brambles: weeds—once considered a scourge—are taking pride of place at London’s Chelsea Flower Show as gardeners concern themselves more than ever with biodiversity and sustainable development.
Six-time Chelsea Flower Show gold-medal landscape designer Cleve West has managed to include 19 weed species in his garden for the Centrepoint Association. West said the garden, constructed around the dilapidated remains of a 19th-century house, was for him the perfect metaphor for the young homeless people the charity cares for, who shouldn’t be written off. “Weeds play a very significant part in repairing land. When land has been disturbed, weeds are the first things that go. They are pioneer plants that go in and repair the soil,” he told AFP.
Jilayne Rickards has designed the “Fauna and Flora” garden, which invites visitors on an eco-trek to Rwanda’s Virunga mountains in the footsteps of gorillas and includes a spectacular waterfall. “Thistles and brambles and nettles… this is typical gorilla habitat,” she said of the weed species that she cultivated in Cornwall, southwestern England. “We spend a lot of time ripping these things out of our garden, not aware of perhaps the amount of wildlife and biodiversity it actually supports,” she said.
Weeds grow at London’s Chelsea Flower Show
CBS News took us on a tour over the weekend:
Chelsea Flower show blooms in the UK as competitors focus on sustainability – YouTube
And the winner is: Cleve West’s ‘Marmite’ garden / RHS Gardening
Cleve West’s gold medal-winning Centrepoint Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023.
Winners announced for RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 – The English Garden
And if you want a patch or two of instant ‘weeds’, the award-winning product is Lindum Wildflower Turf:
The judges reflected on the sad reality that the UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and that the nation’s biodiversity is under serious threat. Lindum’s Wildflower Turf goes some way to help address this. The Lindum Wildflower Turf is the first to be grown without plastic matting. Its compost is peat free and recycled but most importantly it supports a huge range of pollinators and insects with its 27 species of wild flowers, perennials and herbs, all native to the UK.
RHS Chelsea Sustainable Garden Product of the Year 2023 / RHS Gardening