There be dragons... (From Bournemouth Echo)

There be dragons...

7:00am Friday 10th July 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

A DORSET garden has been awarded a bronze medal at this week’s prestigious RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.

But things aren’t what they seem at first glance – for this is a Dragon’s Garden.

It has been especially designed to attract amphibians and reptiles whose natural habitat is disappearing fast in the UK.

The award-winning garden is a collaboration between students and staff at Kingston Maurward college near Dorchester and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, which has its head office in Bournemouth.

Research and monitoring officer Dr John Wilkinson explained: “Until recently we were the Herpetological Conservation Trust but we merged with Froglife to become Amphibian and Reptile Conservation.

“The merger means we are now the only national conservation body for these animals.

“To celebrate, I approached Kingston Maurward with the idea of creating a garden for the Hampton Court Flower Show, and luckily they were happy to accept.”

The brief was to create a garden which would offer the ideal environment for native species such as frogs, toads, newts, snakes and lizards, but at the same time be pleasing on the eye.

“We didn’t want it to look like a traditional wildlife garden, with patches of overgrown weeds and piles of rubble,” John explained. “It had to be something a gardener would also enjoy.”

Ten students on the National Diploma in Horticulture course entered their work, and the finished garden combines elements from designs by the two finalists: Nichola Selley and Kei Little.

Kei, 28, who lives in Weymouth said: “It had to look managed yet natural, but also worthy of this high-profile show. The design was easy to put on paper but difficult to create as there were no straight lines meaning measurements were difficult.”

The Dragon’s Garden took three weeks to build, with the help of 10 other students and various local sponsors.

“A number of Dorset nurseries donated plants,” explained Kei. “And the Dorset-based Clearwater Aquatics was a major player.

“Roger Lanigan came up from Dorset to build the dry stone wall, which comprised 20 tons of Purbeck stone.”

This sustainable stone, in time, will weather and develop good mosses and lichens. But at any age its nooks and crannies provide the ideal habitat for lizards to hide off the ground.

As reptiles can’t thermoregulate, they squeeze between rocks to cool down and bask in the sun to warm up.

The patches of artificial heathland within the garden provide ideal basking opportunity, and snakes are known to move faster on sand as well as liking to lay their eggs in it.

“Grass snakes and slow worms are also particularly attracted to the warmth of compost heaps,” said John. “Grass snakes will invariably lay their eggs there.”

A raised shed encourages toads to hide beneath, and not forgetting certain flowers which attract insects for the creatures to feed on.

The central focus, however, is a pond with aquatic planting for frogs and newts to lay eggs and to shelter young. Importantly, there’s a beached area for easy access.

Dr Rachel Parker, a lecturer in horticulture and aboriculture at Kingston Maurward College was project manager for the garden. “When we submitted the designs we never thought we would get anywhere,” she said. “So we were thrilled not only to get accepted into such a prestigious show but to win a bronze medal, too.

“We had a limited budget and our priority was simply to do our best and not to let the college or Amphibian and Reptile Conservation down.

“We are enormously grateful to everyone who has helped us out and it has been a fantastic experience for everyone involved.”

l The Dragon’s Garden can be seen at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show until Sunday July 12. A smaller version will be at Dorset County Show on 5-6 September 2009.