'Food for Thought' at Katie's Garden

A wildlife-friendly garden design has gone on show in Suffolk … and is already drawing in crowds of pollinators.

Food for Thought by Martlesham-based designer Lisa Calver was originally destined to appear at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live show.

With Covid-19 causing repeated disruption to the event, Calver decided to set up her winning design of bee-friendly planting in her home county, where the public will be able to view it for free throughout the summer.

Suffolk can lay claim to being a strong ally of the bees, with celebrity apiarists and Suffolk residents Bill Turnball, Juliet Stevenson and Martha Kearney having all spoken out about their love of gardening for bees.

Built around a central wooden globe circled by standard holly bushes, Food for Thought is filled out with a wide range of nectar- and pollen-rich plants to attract a diversity of beneficial insects.

The colour palette skews purple, the colour bees find easiest to see, and the flowers have already been a-buzz with winged visitors. White also features for the twilight pollinators, moths in particular.

The design combines a formal layout with a soft romantic feel, to show wildlife areas don’t have to be hidden from view, just low in footfall.

A keynote are the spectacular purple blooms of the Allium, a bulb plant that flowers only once a year in early June.

Fragrance plays a large part, with aromatic lavenders, thymes and Monarda (bee balm) growing alongside Roses and Lobularia (sweet alyssum).

Other planting includes Astrantia, Digitalis (foxglove), Erigeron (Mexican fleabane), Geranium, Orlaya (laceflower), Scabiosa, Stachys and Verbena.

Wildlife gets further help from the bespoke wooden globe, which has been designed as a haven for insects, including ladybirds, bees and butterflies.

The 2020 BBC Gardeners’ World Live show was set to be a high-profile breakthrough for Lisa and her business, Aspect Garden Solutions.

Her design was awarded a place at the Birmingham NEC show through the Gardeners’ World Magazine Beautiful Borders competition.

“An environment where bees, pollinators and insects can thrive is just as important to us as it is to them. Without them, we wouldn’t have any food.”

In February 2020 she heard her entry had been successful and immediately began working with local nurserywoman Susie Davis of Katie’s Garden Plant Centre to prepare the plants for her entry.

And then, in late March, lockdown struck.

Along with organisers, Lisa had hoped the show could go ahead in June of this year. But when it was pushed back again, to late August, she felt she had little choice but to pull out, as the design leans heavily on perennials that are in their first, fresh flushes of colour and growth in early summer.

Rather than redesigning or waiting yet another year, Lisa instead arranged for the garden to go on show to the public at her Suffolk growers’ nursery.

In a case of serendipity, Katie’s Garden Plant Centre, near Woodbridge, began developing a new garden area earlier this year, and Food for Thought has become the temporary centrepiece for this new feature at the nursery.

At 3m x 3m Calver’s creation is the largest display in the garden area, which otherwise features raised beds for trialling new varieties, demonstrating plant care techniques and showcasing specific ranges.

In her brief Lisa stated: “An environment where bees, pollinators and insects can thrive is just as important to us as it is to them. Without them, we wouldn’t have any food.”

• Food for Thought can be viewed at Katie’s Garden Plant Centre, Ipswich Road, Newbourne, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4NS, 10am-4pm, seven days a week.
  

CONTACTS

Lisa Calver BSc, Aspect Garden Solutions [email protected] 07770 806607
www.aspectgardensolutions.co.uk
Susie Davis, Katie’s Garden Plant Centre [email protected] 07880 742320
www.katiesgarden.co.uk