The Fera Garden: Stop the Spread
Site MA3
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<-------- Designer Jo Thompson
www.defra.gov.uk/fera
Jo Thompson, designing for FERA will create a
garden of two characters: both beautiful and
ugly. A beautiful sunken garden featuring
herbaceous planting and a sculpture
by Tom Stogdon is bordered by quintessential
native trees and lush shade-loving planting.
This is starkly contrasted with sinister and shocking
elements: an avenue of dead trees,
an ominous pool with an island holding
a single sapling, and surrounding the garden
are concrete-panelled walls with a delicate pattern
that is not as innocent as it looks. Here lies the message of the
garden: British trees and plants are under threat from pests,
diseases and invasive species. Trees featured in the
garden are selected from a list of species under
threat from pests and diseases, including Sweet
Chestnut, Elm, Scots Pine, and Beech. Suppliers
were chosen on the basis that the garden will
feature only British produced plants and trees.
The herbaceous planting within the garden is
selected from a palette of mainly blue, white and
yellow, including Filipendula vulgaris, Hesperis
matronalis, Ligusticum lucidum,Silene fimbriata, Sesli gummiferum, Trifolium ochroleuchron, Tanacetum niveum, geranium gravetye, Iris sibirica and
Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’. The aim is to inspire the public to play their part in preserving our horticultural heritage by adopting a few basic practices such as cleaning their footwear after walking in the countryside, disposing of garden waste safely, and sourcing plants locally. The incorporation of dead trees and other shocking elements into the garden, and the important message behind those elements, make this garden unique. This is fourth time Jo has designed a garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show,
having previously designed for Demelza (silver-gilt, 2009), Thrive
(gold and Best Urban Garden, 2010) and The Caravan Club (silver-gilt, 2012).