A fungal pavilion, rain garden and colourful plants growing like climate stripes will feature in the new design this summer.
Kew Gardens has unveiled plans for a new ‘Carbon Garden’ at its world-famous botanical site in London.
Set to open in July, the permanent garden will tell “the story of carbon” through a unique design, illustrating the deep connections between plants and climate change.
The Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG) at Kew welcomes around 2.5 million visitors every year to its vast grounds, which are home to over 50,000 living plant species.
“The Carbon Garden offers 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,” says Richard Wilford, designer of the Carbon Garden at RBG Kew.
“We hope the Carbon Garden inspires visitors to act and join us in shaping a more sustainable, resilient future for life on our planet.”
Here’s what you can expect to find this summer.
Why is Kew creating a Carbon Garden?
Eye-catching plans released today feature abundant colour, and a fungi-like centrepiece which appears to have sprouted from the garden.
The tapestry of plants is made up of herbaceous perennials, chosen to illustrate the dramatic rise in global average temperatures over recent years. They are inspired by the famous climate stripes, a visual tool which does this in bar form.
Visitors are then greeted by a rocky outcrop and an unusual sight: an exposed coal seam showing fossilised plants.
Soil is normally kept hidden in gardens, but the whole point of Kew’s Carbon Garden is to “reveal the invisible”, highlighting the hidden world of carbon beneath our feet.
We’re used to hearing about carbon in a negative context. The emissions from burning carbon-based fuels are the biggest contributor to the climate crisis and its assorted disasters.
But Kew is telling a deeper story about this ‘stardust’ found in all living things – an element that exists in the air, is dissolved in our oceans, and pervades organic matter in soils. Around 99 per cent of carbon on Earth is stored underground, in sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels.
Through burning fossil fuels and other activities, humans have released around 2,500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since 1850, trapping heat and warming the planet.
Plants and fungi are our natural allies in climate repair, Kew says, holding the power to capture carbon and restore balance.
What else is in Kew’s Carbon Garden?
The central pavilion, designed by Mizzi Studio, is inspired by the symbiotic relationship between the plant and fungal kingdoms and is created using low-carbon, natural materials.
The sheltered space will support school visits and community activities, while a forward-tilted canopy directs rainwater into a rain garden.
This mini garden and bioswale – a vegetated channel designed to funnel stormwater runoff – will demonstrate ways to manage water flow. Including how to prevent soil erosion, reduce flooding, and grow moisture-tolerant plants that support soil stability and carbon storage.
On the other side of the climate coin, a dry garden will exhibit drought-tolerant and Mediterranean plants from hotter climates. This “startling contrast” to the herbaceous planting will hold plants we might look to for London gardens in 30 years as temperatures rise.
At least 26 new trees will also be planted, selected for their resilience to future climate conditions.
And areas of wildflower meadows and native hedgerows will boost biodiversity, as biodiverse habitats are more resilient and better at storing carbon than monocultures.
Kew horticulturists and arboriculturists know this from their work at the London site and at Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex – where a research programme aims to inform conservation strategies in the UK.
