A garden designed by Dan Bristow for the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show, titled the Size of Wales, shines a light on biodiversity with 313 plant species, showcasing efforts to protect rare native flora and raise awareness about the need to preserve rainforests globally. The garden’s sustainable design and use of Welsh-grown plants demonstrate the successful cultivation of diverse species in the UK, promoting botanical diversity and sustainability in contemporary gardening practices.
Chelsea Flower Show Highlights Wales’ Biodiversity With Unique Garden
The 2024 Chelsea Flower Show will feature a specially designed garden by Dan Bristow from Bethesda, Gwynedd, representing Wales and spotlighting biodiversity with an impressive array of 313 plant species. This garden, titled the Size of Wales, aims to raise awareness about the global need to protect rainforests, which are home to a significant portion of the world’s plant and animal species.
The Size of Wales garden’s design, shaped like Wales, incorporates plants grown in Welsh nurseries, demonstrating that even exotic and diverse species can be successfully cultivated in the UK. Among the showcased flora are critically endangered species like the Beacons hawkweed and the Brecon dandelion, highlighting efforts to preserve rare native plants.
The garden, commissioned by the climate change charity Size of Wales, features sustainable materials, including timber from ash-dieback affected trees and a compostable wall made of mushrooms. Following the show, it will be relocated to Bangor University’s Treborth Botanic Garden.
Bristow, along with Andrew Shaw of the Rare British Plants Nursery and Sue and Bleddyn Wynn-Jones from Crûg Farm nursery, contributes to this ambitious project. Their collective experience underscores the importance of botanical diversity and sustainability in contemporary gardening practices.
