The Royal Entomological Society Garden

A Main Avenue Show Garden at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, The Royal Entomological Society Garden was supported by Project Giving Back and was awarded an RHS Silver-Gilt Medal.

Designed to inspire and ignite an interest in insects and insect science, and highlight the essential purpose they serve in the health and future of our environments. It aimed to impress upon the public the important role we play and how our choices affect insects, through the plants we cultivate, the habitats we create and preserve, and the time and interest we put into researching and protecting them.

Insects are vital to global ecosystems, but are sometimes overlooked in comparison to larger and more visible birds and mammals. Within the insect kingdom, bees and butterflies usually steal the limelight, but moths, beetles, hornets, ants amongst countless other insect species are just as important.

The RES garden was inspired by the unexpected beauty and biodiversity found on British brownfield sites. These previously human inhabited spaces are full of biodiversity, housing an array of plant species and wildlife. With over 80% of the UK population now living in urban areas, brownfield sites must be considered as important for biodiversity as rural sites. The RES garden demonstrated how to create a range of habitats for insects, utilising often discarded materials such as deadwood sculptures, rammed earth floors and walls, mixed construction waste mulches and piles of rubble, sand and gabions filled with waste materials. 

An outdoor lab was the central feature of the garden. The convex roof, was inspired by the compound eye of an insect, spanning 7m in diameter and constructed using hundreds of laser cut hexagonal panels. All of the other elements of the lab, including the habitat panel walls, were fabricated to provide habitat and shelter for insects, inviting them in to facilitate study. The structure can be ‘flat packed’ for ease of storage and transport, and to allow a replication of similar structures at other RES locations.

The planting scheme was also designed to encourage and support insects – a mix of native and non-native plant species provided a wide range of food sources for pollinators. Plants such as Hazel were also included as key caterpillar food plants. 

The front of the garden featured a drought resistant planting scheme, representing species typically found on brownfield sites. Some of the common plants included are often considered weeds; such as dandelions, clover, vetch and knapweed, but they offer important benefits to a wide range of insects. Behind the lab, naturalistic planting evoked meadows at the edge of a native woodland, rich in insect life. Trees in the garden were also chosen for their beneficial qualities, such as hawthorn and silver birch, species that can support over 300 insect species, and hazel, a key food plant for caterpillars.  

The show garden is being relocated to IQL Stratford, at the gateway to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where it will provide a permanent resource for RES to host events, educate and inspire. 

Supported by Project Giving Back

Built by Landscape Associates

Plants by Hortus Loci

Lab fabrication by Cake Industries

Other metalwork by Surrey Ironcraft

Water Feature by Water Artisans

Photographs by Alister Thorpe

For more details on RES visit royensoc.co.uk