HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has opened a new garden for children at Wisley. The Back to Nature Garden is a space where families can play, discover and relax in a natural and exciting environment, and will delight thousands of children for years to come.
The garden is inspired by show gardens co-designed by The Duchess at RHS Chelsea Flower Show and RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. It is a place for families and friends to have fun in nature, whilst hopefully igniting a love for gardening and growing plants. The Duchess planted a weeping blue cedar tree to mark the garden's opening.
The Back to Nature Garden includes features from the original garden at Chelsea, including the hollow log and boulders from the waterfall, as well as the wildflower meadow, hidden burrow and rolling hill from the Hampton Court design.
As with the previous RHS Back to Nature Gardens, the new garden at Wisley aims to support The Duchess of Cambridge’s work to highlight how time spent in natural environments can help build the foundations for positive physical and mental wellbeing. These environments enable children to develop skills for life through free play, building confidence, strength, creativity and resilience.
Sue Biggs, RHS Director General, said: “We are grateful to The Duchess for the incredible impact that this ‘Back to Nature’ collaboration has had. There is no doubt that this project, through her passion and vision, has highlighted that access to natural environments and green spaces isn’t just nice to have, it’s vital to have. This is something that the RHS also strongly believes in and will continue to champion through our Greening Great Britain Campaign and charitable work.”
The Back to Nature Garden at Wisley has been designed by Landscape Architects Davies White with the support and input of the RHS Horticultural Teams. The garden was built by contractors Gerald Davies.
For more information:
Royal Horticultural Society
www.rhs.org.uk