September 21st 2021
Announced on the 6th September, The RHS Queen's Green Canopy Garden will be on show on the largest plot at RHS Chelsea Flower Show (sponsored by M&G) on 21st - 26th September, 2021.
The garden will highlight the vital importance of trees and woodlands to the environment.
A lush, towering green and purple woodland made up of 21 trees including multi-stemmed Swedish birch, hornbeam and beech will stand amid a carpet of grassland and a colourful wildflower meadow, which provide an ideal habitat for wildlife.
More than 3,500 plants will cover the 433M2 garden. This includes splashes of colour from Anemone ‘September Charm’, box ball hedges left untrimmed to reduce the possibility of blight and striking Saxifraga 'Kinki Purple' that will provide ground cover.
Created in partnership between the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC), the garden, designed by David Dodd, promotes the QGC – a unique tree planting initiative celebrating Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 by inviting people to 'Plant a Tree for the Jubilee'.
The QGC encourages people from all across the United Kingdom to plant trees from October when the tree-planting season begins, through to the end of the Jubilee year in 2022.
Taking centre stage at the world-famous show on the iconic ‘triangle’ position, the RHS Queen’s Green Canopy Garden will be a living picture of biodiverse regeneration and show how land can be used to its fullest potential.
Tim Upson, Director of Horticulture Education & Communities said: “The RHS is delighted to be supporting the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show not only for the benefit of our environment but also to honour our patron, Her Majesty The Queen. Planting trees is something all gardeners can do to positively tackle climate-change and help wildlife. By planting trees the UK’s 30 million gardeners can together, collectively create a legacy for future generations.”
Sir Nicholas Bacon, Chair of The Queen’s Green Canopy said: “We hope the garden at the world famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show inspires millions of people across the United Kingdom to get involved and ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’.
The Jubilee is an important event – in 2022, The Queen will become the first Monarch in English history to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee – 70 years of service.
The Queen’s Green Canopy is giving everyone the opportunity to celebrate this remarkable milestone by planting trees with care, at the right time of year, in the right place so they will thrive for generations to come.”
Designer of the garden David Dodd said: “I have built many gardens at RHS Chelsea but this is the first one I have designed and I am so passionate about the message of the garden. I really hope it encourages everyone across the country to get involved in tree planting.
Whether it be a small single tree in someone’s garden, or getting involved in community projects to plant new woodlands or forests we can all do our part in creating better habitats for wildlife and helping fight climate change.
And happily – October is the perfect time to plant trees!”
All the trees that feature in the garden will be relocated to RHS Garden Bridgewater in Salford, Greater Manchester after the show and will be planted to create three new copses of trees within the Victoria Meadow as part of the QGC initiative.
For more information on the Queen's Green Canopy initiative, please visit: https://queensgreencanopy.org/
To see a concept photo of the RHS Queen's Green Canopy Garden, see here:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/press/releases/the-rhs-queens-green-canopy-garden-for-this-years
Based on: RHS Press Release