GARDEN FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE: CHATSWORTH FLOWER SHOW 2017
07:35:00
My department, the Department of Landscape from University of Sheffield collaborated with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to create awareness on how climate change is impacting landscape practitioners and gardeners through creating a show garden based the changing climate concept at the Chatsworth Flower Show 2017. The flower show took place at Chatsworth, right by the famous Chatsworth House.
Read more about the garden design here.
Permeable pavement - pavement materials are made from recycled rubber and aggregates which allows water to absorb through to eliminate surface runoff.
Due to longer dry spells, olive trees can be planted outdoors in the UK (provides that Mediterranean touch).
Wildflower meadows are becoming the trend nowadays because they give that natural look. These plant selection are also resilient to extreme weather conditions; some are drought tolerant while others can withstand excess water - displayed in the garden, these wildflowers are a not only functional, but also enhance aesthetic value and increase biodiversity (butterflies and bees were seen everywhere during the show).
Hydrogen car! (from Riversimple Company) - only by-product from it is water! How awesome is that!
Zig-zag fence provides stronger and more stable structure against strong winds, while also creating space for social interactions.
Sustainable rainwater management system; the canopy captures and collects rainwater and stores them in a tank underneath the bench below the canopy. When the tank reaches it's capacity, excess water is transported by rills and directed to ponds or rain gardens.
And there's me with my PhD supervisor, Ross, who was involved in this climate change project.
The climate change garden was designed by 2 lecturers from our department, Andy Clayden and Ross Cameron, and also Eleanor Webster, who is a climate scientist from the RHS. In general, the garden was divided into 2 different categories; one was a contemporary garden with typical lawn and herbaceous plants commonly found today; and the other, a garden that is predicted to look like in the future - in the year 2100, which utilises various functional garden features to combat extreme weather events, caused by climate change. This 'future' garden consists of hard landscape as well as functional plants that are resilient to drought and flooding conditions.
Some students from the Dept. of Landscape volunteered to take part in this very interesting project, myself included. Some were involved in the construction, planting and also engaging the public on the show days.
It was a pretty hot day, (compared to the horrible rainy and windy days before that!) and it was a great experience to be able to talk to the public who are very much interested in gardening. Some are aware of the climate change impact while some were very keen to know more information about it and was interested in implementing the displayed garden features into their own garden. Since my PhD research focuses on sustainable water management using vegetation, it was the perfect opportunity to share my interest and general findings with the public, as well as challenging myself with some of the questions that I get from the public's perspective. It was indeed a great and useful experience for us to be part of this flower show, let alone when the theme is an important global issue that needs to be addressed, and can be done so by everyone and anyone.
More information about the garden design, materials used and suitable plant list to combat extreme weather can be found on the RHS website. Full report on gardens and climate change can also be downloaded there.
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