Green shoots at the Chelsea Flower show as it tackles environmental issues

PLASTIC POLLUTION and making urban spaces greener are among the environmental challenges being addressed by gardens at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show.

Displays at the Royal Horticultural Society’s world-famous event, which takes place next month, are also examining issues such as dealing with more extreme weather and tackling air pollution in cities.

The Pearlfisher Garden, designed by John Warland, aims to spur action to create sustainable life-cycles for packaging and products to help protect the oceans, and will go on display amid growing concerns over the problem of plastic pollution.

It will feature aquatic tanks, hosting a Jason deCaires Taylor coral sculpture, ocean plants and live fish.

The walling of the garden is made up of 500 plastic bottles, to represent how many end up in the world’s oceans every few seconds. Mr Warland, who is based in Richmond, south-west London, said: “It’s obviously quite an unusual garden.

“We are trying to replicate the beauty of the underwater world in the heart of Chelsea. The brief is to bring the world’s oceans, the world’s largest gardens, to SW1 for five days.”

On the choice of plants, many of which will be cacti, succulents and exotics, he said: “We can take the weird and wonderful from all around the world so it appears as if it’s an almost horticultural coral, to promote the world’s oceans and promote the natural world in general.”

In the New West End Garden, designed by Kate Gould, the design features paving that generates energy from being walked on, which could be used to pump clean air to create a green healthy space in the heart of a busy city. The garden will be rehomed after the show to provide a green space in Westminster. The plants are pollution-tolerant, and include evergreens to make a green space all year round, while green walls and water features absorb and muffle noise.