Mosses and cow parsley will feature in a Chelsea flower show garden to celebrate endangered British rainforests.
Vast expanses of the UK were once temperate rainforest. But these moss-covered ancient trees and their lichen have become a rare sight due to deforestation and overgrazing. Dartmoor, for example, once covered with trees, now harbours just a few fragments of temperate rainforest.
The Chelsea garden, which will be on display next May, is being designed by Zoe Claymore, who won a gold medal last year for the “renters retreat” showing how a small, shady courtyard can be turned into a wildlife haven.
Her garden this year will showcase the rare habitat and be set on Britain’s west coast, one of the few places globally with the right combination of humidity, rainfall and mild temperatures to create perfect rainforest conditions.
She has been inspired by the Atlantic rainforest restoration programme, spearheaded by the Wildlife Trusts and aiming to restore 1,175 hectares of rainforest across the British Isles.
Lichen, an organism that thrives in the humid conditions of a temperate rainforest, will feature in the garden on the trunks and branches of birch trees. Ferns, foxgloves and an 8-metre wide, 2.4-metre tall moss wall will also feature, and it is hoped the creation will show how gardens can be used to help restore once-lost habitat to combat the nature and climate crises.
“I’ve felt a deep personal connection to British rainforests since my childhood, having many happy memories playing among the rocks, stream and moss boulders at my grandparents’ house beside Lydford Gorge in Devon,” said Claymore. “Earlier this year I visited Devon Wildlife Trust’s Dart Valley nature reserve, a beautiful fragment of remaining rainforest, and it felt like coming home. The opportunity to design a garden to promote and protect these special places for future generations is a great honour. Plants for me have provided such a safe, healing connection during difficult times, and I hope this garden can inspire others to find their own relationship with nature.”
She will weave in plants she encountered in the Dart Valley, including hart’s tongue fern and silver birch. “I’ve peppered the list with lots of mosses as I think we need to embrace this prehistoric plant community a lot more in our gardens. I’m excited to feature wildflowers such as cow parsley – it is an unsung hero of wildlife-friendly gardening that attracts everything from orange-tip butterflies to marmalade hoverflies. The flowers here will serve as a pop of white, contrasting with foxgloves and the verdant green of the garden.”
Claymore will also be demonstrating how to garden in a soil-friendly way, hoping visitors take pointers. “I have designed the garden a way that is very mindful of soil conservation – this means that no soil is left exposed, and the absolute minimum is compacted. A raised wooden boardwalk will allow the soil underneath to breathe and be covered with plant life which will help to retain nutrients and bolsters flood resilience.”
And she’ll grow all the plants without pesticides or peat compost – two major causes of wildlife decline and water pollution in the UK.
“I’d urge any conscientious gardener to steer clear of these,” she said. “Instead, I’d say, embrace the charm of imperfection in your garden – like a wonky tree – and choose plants that suit your climatic conditions. If it’s damp and dark, why not celebrate a clump of moss? It feels fabulous underfoot. Add features like ponds and focus on native plants to give wildlife a real boost.”
