Kew Gardens has opened a major new attraction with more than 6,500 plants

Kew Gardens has been helping Londoners escape from stuffy city life for nearly 250 years, and ideally, it would continue to do so for 250 more. That may not be possible, however, if climate change continues unchecked; which is exactly what the attraction’s brand new Carbon Garden wants to draw attention to.

Kew Gardens’ new Carbon Garden is ‘a curated selection of herbaceous perennial’ or, in layman's terms, a long-term exhibition full of nice-looking, carbon-eating plants. It opened last Friday (July 25) and its goal is to illustrate to visitors through the medium of ‘plant’ just how severe the climate crisis is getting, and the role that nature has in combating it. Did you know that fungi could be valuable warriors in the fight against global warming? You certainly would after a trip to the Carbon Garden.

In terms of what you’ll be able to see there, it’s pretty varied. Each plant selected, from flowers to trees to hedges and grass, demonstrates a different way in which carbon can aid or hinder the natural world. Built around a circular path, your journey begins in a ‘dry garden’, which includes a selection of ‘drought-tolerant’ plants, and ends in its rainy equivalent, built to show how we can ‘manage water flow’ in a climate-friendly way which draws carbon out of the air and into the ground.

Right at the centre is a unique mushroom-shaped sculpture ‘inspired by the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi’. This also doubles as a bit of shade from the sun or shelter from the rain for us humans, and will facilitate school trips and community projects. Maybe mushrooms really are our friends.

Richard Wilford, who designed the garden, described it as ‘a unique opportunity to showcase our ongoing research, combining scientific insight with thoughtful design and beautiful planting to highlight the role of carbon in our lives,’ adding; ‘We hope the Carbon Garden inspires visitors to act and join us in shaping a more sustainable, resilient future for life on our planet.’

You can access the Carbon Garden with a regular Kew Gardens ticket or pass. Even though the iconic glasshouse is shutting down for renovations, hopefully this means your visit to the Richmond park is still worth your time.

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