A weed is only a plant in the wrong place': RHS Chelsea garden celebrates England's edgelands

"Stinging nettles, buttercups, broken crockery, fly-tipped flowers and a discarded gnome are not the usual hallmarks of an RHS Chelsea flower show garden. But this year's On the Edge garden by Sarah Eberle is designed not to look like a garden at all, rather to transport its visitors to the liminal spaces on the outskirts of towns where the countryside begins and nature is in critical need of protection."

"Right at the front is its centrepiece: a fallen mature tree sculpted into a reclining female figure by the chainsaw carver Chris Wood, a mixture of stone and timber carved from a sequoia that's fallen on this piece of edgelands, said Eberle. The sculpture, which represents Mother Nature or Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth, is intended to evoke the peacefulness and vulnerability of green belts and other countryside that surround urban centres."

"Its arm touches rainwater collected in a gravel pool and its willow hair flows into a dry stone wall that winds through a landscape dotted with native trees such as hornbeam, field maple and hawthorn. Her hair will have birds' nests in it and wild roses climbing over it, and it lifts up and goes over the path, so you walk underneath her, said Eberle."

"Eberle hopes the garden will help to convey how fragile, scrappy patches of countryside on the edges of towns and cities can serve as important sanctuaries for wildlife and urban communities. If we look after these spaces, they can be good for nature and good for people, she said."

A Chelsea flower show garden called On the Edge is designed to feel like the liminal fringe where countryside meets towns. It was created for the Campaign to Protect Rural England to mark the charity’s centenary year. The garden includes a fallen mature tree sculpted into a reclining female figure representing Mother Nature or Gaia, carved from a sequoia. Rainwater is collected in a gravel pool that the sculpture’s arm touches. Willow hair flows into a dry stone wall, while native trees and plants such as hornbeam, field maple, hawthorn, wild roses, and birds’ nests support wildlife. The path passes underneath the figure to emphasize vulnerability and sanctuary value.

Read at www.theguardian.com