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Mary Reynolds’s garden for Kew has been inspired by
‘The Stolen Child’, a poem by W.B. Yeats. The poem
summons up a magical landscape of woods, springs, trees and
islands, shared with watervoles, herons, trout and mice. The
garden takes the form of an island in a lake, framed by trees
and planted with native aquatics and marginal plants. The
garden is approached by a winding path, marked by sentinel
stones. The path leads to a protected central space, evoking
a strong sense of reconnection with the natural world and
an awareness of its fragility.
The biodiversity garden has been funded by Defra, Kew’s
sponsoring government department, which funds a wide range
of initiatives to support biodiversity in the UK, including
the flagship agri-environmental schemes, Countryside Stewardship
and Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Through Environmental
Action Fund (EAF) grants, Defra also supports 23 groups carrying
out projects promoting biodiversity across England.
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| Plan of the Defra garden |
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Mary Reynolds completed a four year degree in
landscape horticulture at University College in Dublin. She
set up her own practice and has been designing gardens professionally
for four years. She lives in the Wicklow mountains near Dublin
and the beauty of this natural landscape has had a major impact
on her designs. Inspired by the quiet drama of native plants,
she creates sympathetic gardens which allow these unsung heroes
to shine through. She takes patterns and shapes which resonate
with traditional ideas and forms and uses roughly hewn stones,
water, mosses and wild plantings to create inspiring and spiritual
spaces in her gardens.
Defra’s website: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/eaf/index.htm
gives details of Defra’s biodiversity work. This includes
support for Species and Local Biodiversity Action plans, information
about projects promoting understanding and awareness of sustainable
development, and awards to sustainable living projects, some
of which include strong biodiversity elements.
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