David Bellamy counts down to opening of conservation showcase attraction - Future
Gardens
Today, Professor Dr David Bellamy got his hands dirty helping out in the final
stages of the eco-planting for the world-class new conservation showcase, Future
Gardens which is set to open on 5th June this year.
Phase I of £27m Butterfly World opens in 4 weeks
Eco-planting to attract butterflies and bees & improve biodiversity
Future Gardens is the launch-pad of the ground-breaking £27m Butterfly World Project
near St Albans. The event will feature awe-inspiring gardens including 12 showcase
contemporary designer gardens from some of Europe’s best known designers as well
as some new faces to the gardening world. The majority of planting throughout the
27 acre former Low Grade agricultural land has been specifically chosen to attract
wild-life such as butterflies and bees.
David Bellamy is a patron of the project. He says:
“This is a hugely exciting conservation project set to inspire everyone and get
them thinking about how they can affect the environment we live in. Everything in
this project has been carefully designed so it will shine as a beacon of bio-diversity.
As well as creating a unique destination for days out, it will form the base of
a fantastic and luscious habitat for a variety of creatures including butterflies
and bees, which are in worrying decline. Future Gardens is the first stage of this
highly important conservation programme echoing a stark message about our environment.
”
The Future Gardens event will showcase highly creative and forward-thinking designs
for four months every year. Visitors to the site near St Albans will be able to
see and appreciate how gardens mature and evolve through the seasons. They’ll also
experience a fascinating journey through a variety of thought-provoking contemporary
landscapes which will include permanent gardens with a real difference. Each permanent
garden is an acknowledgment of the anatomy of the butterfly, such as land art ‘antennae’
walk-ways and a spiral ‘proboscis’ walk*.
Ivan Hicks is the lead designer and is responsible for developing the innovative
landscape for Future Gardens - Phase I of Butterfly World. He adds:
“Everything is taking shape and looking great. We can’t believe its only four weeks
until the public will be able to come and explore this new world. It seems like
yesterday when this was a blank canvas. The aim is to create gardens that are fun
and informative, designed to spark an interest in gardening and the natural world
and offer a clear environmental message.”
Each designer garden within the much anticipated Future Gardens event has an inventive
and individual theme, with many inspired by nature’s offering. All the garden designs
demonstrate that sustainability and innovative, contemporary design can co-exist
and be mutually beneficial.
There is a 13th show garden – Harry’s Garden, a charity garden being designed by
landscape, garden and horticultural designer, Fern Alder.
An anticipated highlight among the permanent gardens will be the three leaf-shaped
gardens; ’Through the Flowerpot Garden’ will allow visitors to see the world from
an insect’s eye view, ‘Spangle Gall Garden’ is a series of ten garden installations
on different themes, that will engage children in designing gardens which will sit
in butterfly egg-shaped beds, and the ‘Theatre of Insects’ will show how even the
strangest of man-made objects can create an ecologically sensitive habitat for insects.
British Butterfly Garden will display the most up-to-the minute research into caterpillar
food and nectar plants.
* The walled spiral ‘proboscis’ walk is a permanent feature garden designed in the
form of a spiral path shaped like a butterfly’s proboscis and sown with international
cornfield annuals. At the centre of the spiral proboscis walk is the Dame Miriam
Rothschild Nectar Garden. It has been designed by Ian Forster as a permanent memorial
to the late scientific advisor for Butterfly World.