Environment Exhibitions at RHS Chelsea- 05.23.12
A little botanical inspiration from our London-based editor Justine Aw, who visited this year’s RHS Chelsea, which is open to the public from May 22nd to 26th.
The “Environment” section at RHS Chelsea was one of my favorite corners of The Great Pavilion. The section is new to the show and housed some of the most interesting displays that seemed so relevant to urban London, exploring how we can find green spaces in the city and manage to fit plants into our busy metropolis. From hydroponic air-lifted green soilless bottle walls to cress growing in a grid of bottle caps and even plants growing in old sneakers! See it all on the next page…
Writtle College’s “Green Spaces: Growing Your Own in Small Spaces”. The exhibit is filled with ways to grow in small spaces and features designs by Simon Watkins and his students Tom Pryke, James Day, James Thompson and Ross Scase.
I love the hydroponic air-lifted green soilless bottle walls, an easy DIY hydroponic setup you can create from recycled materials. The display was reminiscent of the hydroponic wonders at FARM:shop Dalston.
My highlight of the exhibit was the grid of cress, growing in nothing more than plastic bottle caps (such a gorgeous display!). You can see more images on their facebook page.
Treebox also had an exhibit at Chelsea, showing off urban greening. The exhibit, designed by Armando Raish, Owen Morgan and Alexandra Froggart combined a system of changeable planters and individual pots.
Fun exhibit called ‘Open doors, open your eyes’ by Architecture Sans Frontiers which uses reclaimed materials and includes a list of London’s open and greenspaces (like Dalston’s stunning Eastern Curve Garden).
And this fun example of the type of reclaimed urban garden was created by students at the Knightsbridge School. Love the sneaker planters!
