Gold medal for Wildlife Trusts garden at RHS festival

And finally ... congratulations to BBOWT

Gold medal for Wildlife Trusts garden at RHS festival - Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust

BBOWT and The Wildlife Trusts' show garden at the 2023 RHS Malvern Spring Festival, created with Oxford Garden Design, Charlie Luxton and Future Nature WTC. Picture: Chris Dobbs

Recycled materials used to create wildlife haven.

A SHOW garden with nature’s recovery at its heart has been awarded a gold medal at this year’s RHS Malvern Spring Festival – and won Best in Show and Best Construction. RHS judges praised the garden for its atmosphere, flair and impact and for the high standard of its design and build.

The Wildlife Trusts: Wilder Spaces garden takes wildlife-friendly gardening to a new level, combining beauty with biodiversity. Sponsored by The Wildlife Trusts, the garden has been led by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) and its ecological consultancy Future Nature WTC. Working with experts from Oxford Garden Design, the team has demonstrated how wildlife habitats can be designed into the structure of a garden, using building waste, reclaimed material and untreated timbers. And there were celebrations when the prestigious RHS gold medal and awards were announced, after a race to get the garden finished in challenging weather conditions.

The Wildlife Trusts believe gardening has a vital role to play in nature’s recovery, with long-term benefits for climate and people’s wellbeing too. The aim of the garden is to inspire visitors to think differently about the appearance of a garden designed for people and wildlife, and to show how we can all nurture nature - no matter what size or style of garden.

Estelle Bailey, BBOWT’s Chief Executive, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that our Wilder Spaces garden has been so highly commended by the RHS after such a lot of hard work by everyone on the team. The festival gives us a great opportunity to showcase to people what they can achieve in their own gardens for nature, for climate and for themselves. Nature is in crisis and not enough is being done to reverse this terrible decline. We want to see 30 per cent of land well managed for nature by 2030 and our gardens are a vital part of that wild jigsaw to help bring nature back. Private gardens make up a bigger area than all of Britain’s nature reserves combined – they can provide a mosaic of mini-habitats that support a diverse range of species, so they are key to helping create more nature everywhere.”