THE FAUNA & FLORA GARDEN ON MAIN AVENUE, CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW RECEIVES SILVER MEDAL
The Fauna & Flora Garden is based on their highly successfully Mountain Gorilla conservation project spanning three African countries – Rwanda, DRC and Uganda. It depicts a typical eco-tourist’s trek starting with the human utilised land of medicinal garden and kiosk selling artisanal goods, through the boundary wall and into the protected forest area where a gorilla might be found.
This garden had sustainability at its heart – every design and construction decision came back to the same question “what is the most sustainable way to do this?”. The garden was cement and concrete free (no mean feat considering the top of the water feature was at 5m height!), the hidden retaining wall at the back of the garden was soft engineered and allowed for additional planting, soil for the increase in level was from everyone else’s dig out, boulders were a waste product from agricultural farming in Scotland and returned to supplier after the show, majority of plants were grown by The Eden Project (chemical and peat free in recycled or recyclable pots) and the garden is now installed in the Rainforest Biome at Eden – nothing was sent to landfill.
The Celebrities
Read the blog posts of the Fauna & Flora International at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023
THE GARDEN’S GREEN CREDENTIALS
Right from start, when the garden was just conceptual ideas, I wanted to make it as sustainable as possible. To do this, I thoroughly researched suppliers, considering the materials and their carbon footprint as well as considering using alternative construction techniques. Every design decision has been based around the need for the garden to be [...]
WITH HEARTFELT THANKS TO:
PROJECT GIVING BACK Project Giving Back is the vision of two private individuals who want to support a wide range of charitable causes whose work suffered during the global Covid-19 pandemic and continues to be affected by the economic downturn and cost-of-living crisis. The grant-making scheme gives UK-based charities and other charitable organisations the chance [...]
Meet The Team
JILAYNE RICKARDS - DESIGNER Jilayne is a professional multi award winning garden designer based in Cornwall, UK. With sustainability driving every design decision, her gardens reflect the encouraging movement towards reducing our environmental impact. Often influencing clients and along the way, she carefully sources products by their carbon footprint, uses sustainable construction techniques and plants [...]
ALL ABOUT THE GARDEN
Trying to encompass the breadth of work Fauna & Flora International (FFI) covers is a difficult task, so we decided to focus on one of its flagship projects as an example of its work. After much discussion and debate, we decided to spotlight its gorilla conservation project in Central Africa, as it demonstrates perfectly how […]
HOW I CAME ACROSS FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL
We can all feel helpless when we see the destruction human kind has done to this planet, but we have to be positive and find ways to make a difference. I have been looking for a way to make my own difference and whilst in conversation with my zoologist friend he asked if I had […]