Kew Gardens in London has opened its new Carbon Garden, which tells the story of carbon and explores the scale of the climate crisis.
The groundbreaking garden is a permanent addition at Kew and includes 35 new trees and 6,500 new plants, as well as a central pavilion inspired by fungi and made with natural materials.
The Carbon Garden was created to showcase carbon’s critical role in sustaining life on Earth, and reveals the potential of plants and fungi to combat the climate crisis by capturing carbon and restoring balance.
The new attraction includes a selection of herbaceous perennials taking inspiration from Reading University’s climate stripes and showing the dramatic rise in global average temperatures over time.
A dry garden reveals how people can work with plants to adapt to a changing climate, while a rain garden shows how we can manage water flow, prevent soil erosion, reduce flooding, recharge moisture into the soil, and support moisture-tolerant plants.
35 new trees and 6,500 new plants at Kew
Additionally, 35 new trees have been selected for their resilience to projected future climate conditions.
The garden also includes a pavilion designed by Mizzi Studio to look like a fungal fruiting body. Created using natural materials, it features a canopy to direct rainwater into the rain garden.
Richard Wilford, designer of the Carbon Garden and manager of garden design at Kew, said: “The Carbon Garden offers a unique opportunity to showcase our ongoing research, combining scientific insight with thoughtful design and beautiful planting to highlight the role of carbon in our lives, how it moves through the environment and how plants and fungi can help us tackle climate change.”
He added, “We hope the Carbon Garden inspires visitors to act and join us in shaping a more sustainable, resilient future for life on our planet.”
The Carbon Garden aims to encourage guests at Kew to become advocates for nature and highlights simple actions that people can take to support the health of plants and the planet.
Lead image credit: Jeff Eden / Kew
