Bringing the wonders of insect science to RHS Chelsea Flower Show
We’re so grateful to have had the opportunity to bring our love of insects and their complex, inter-connected lives to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023 and we loved that you could join us along the way. Thanks to generous funding and support from Project Giving Back, we worked with award-winning designer Tom Massey to create the first ever Royal Entomological Society Garden for the most famous garden event in the world.
Here we’ll share updates from our garden team, top tips for making your own garden a haven for all kinds of insect life and invite you to get involved at home with some brilliant, exclusive insect-inspired content.
Plant List & Garden Overview
The garden will will provide an inspiring place in which insects can be studied, researched, and observed in a beautiful natural environment with visible insect science taking place in the unique, insect eye inspired, outdoor laboratory.
View and download the plant list.
What’s happening now?
From initial construction, stages, through to the end of the show, here we’ll be adding pictures and video updates on the garden.
Meet the team
We are extremely grateful to be working alongside some brilliant experts who are helping realise this special project.
Top tips for insect-friendly gardening
Get some suggestions from Tom Massey on encouraging beneficial insect life in your garden.
Download the garden leaflet with ‘Incredible Insects’ poster:
Huge thanks to:
- Project Giving Back for the generous garden funding & incredible support
- Tom Massey Studio for his wonderful design & superb eye for detail
- Hortus Loci for the wonderful palette of plants perfect for insects to thrive
- Landscape Associates for bringing Tom’s design to life
- Cake Industries, with support from N55, Anne Romme & Anne Bagger for the design & fabrication of the outdoor laboratory
- Water Artisans for realising the water element of Tom’s design
- Surrey Ironcraft for their skilled metalworks throughout the garden
- John Little at the Grass Roof Company for support with insect habitat creation & brownfield site exploration
- Thread Architects & Mule Studio for additional support with the design
- Ashwells for the fallen wood that brings our insect garden to life
- The brilliant volunteer planting team & all RES Trustees & volunteers who will be welcoming visitors to the garden throughout the week
- Baker Consultants for the innovative soil listening station that analyses insect life within the soil to measure soil health
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for their state of the art AI moth trap, which will monitor night visitors to the garden
- RHS – Royal Horticultural Society entomology team for their help with pollinator monitoring throughout show week
Additional thanks to Bloom PR & Communications for their unwavering support, and also to Lendlease & the brilliant team at IQL Stratford who have all grasped the nettle and thrown themselves into the relocation of this garden as an important haven for urban wildlife & living resource to inspire future insect scientists.
Finally thanks to Matt Greenwell & the PGB team for producing the lovely short film on our behalf.
Supporters of the RES Garden
#RESGarden
The Royal Entomological Society is a non-profit organisation and relies on publishing, membership and donations to pursue its support of scientific, educational, ecological and entomological causes.
We plan to relocate the RES garden to central London with a new education program providing a long-term opportunity for insect study as part of our planned UK network of gardens. The garden will show how remarkable and valuable insects are with visible insect science taking place in the unique – insect eye inspired – outdoor laboratory.
Much like the diversity of insects, there are many ways to support us and our work – your contribution, no matter how big or small, makes a huge impact and enables us to continue to enrich the world with insect science.
