Campaign launched to create botanical gardens in the Island

  • Green-fingered group are seeking land to create botanic gardens in Jersey
  • Project aims to save plant species from other island communities under threat from climate change
  • Project leaders say a deal to lease land for the first garden is ‘very close’
  • Work could see Jersey become a ‘Green Ark’, preserving at-risk plants

A CHARITY has launched a fundraising campaign to create a network of botanic gardens in the Island.

Bruce Labey, a botanical horticulturist and founder of the Jersey Botanic Gardens Trust, said that the aim of the Botanic Gardens of Jersey project is to rescue endangered plants from islands around the world which are suffering from the impact of climate change.

He said that the trust is ‘very close’ to securing an agreement with a landowner to lease a plot for the first botanic garden, which he hopes will eventually be linked with a number of others across the Island.

‘The site is in a beautiful south-facing corner, in a glorious location, and is sheltered from the wind,’ he said.

Bruce Labey, centre, joins fellow Parish in Bloom judges Carole Baxter and Mike Freeman to review a St Martin entry

Mr Labey, who owns his own landscape architecture business, said that he has worked on the project for years with staff from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in the UK and that feasibility studies have been carried out on many different sites in the Island.

Mr Labey added that staff at Kew are interested in moving surplus plants from the gardens’ temperate house to Jersey.

He said: ‘They are currently working on a major restoration project in the temperate house and have stripped out all the plants. Not all the plants will go back in, and they are offering us some of them.

Bruce Labey, founder of the Jersey Botanic Garden Trust, stands next to a palm tree in Gorey

‘They have a world heritage plant collection, and Jersey is perfect for growing these plants outside because of our mild winters.’

Mr Labey said that global warming and habitat destruction around the world has meant that many more plant species are moving closer to extinction every year. ‘Island species are under the greatest pressure of all,’ he said.

‘Desert zones will spread higher and Jersey will become what the Balearics are now. We need to take plants out of the Mediterranean zones in the world and look after them. The potential for Jersey to become a sub-tropical paradise is enormous.’

He said that the project needs money initially to pay for professional advice with negotiating leases and for applications for planning permission.

Mr Labey said: ‘These are vital things which we can’t do on our own. We only have three volunteers, so we need to get professional help.

The trust has launched the Jersey Green Ark campaign through the Crowdfunding Centre, an online platform for fundraising.

Mr Labey said: ‘This project has been going since 1998, but for the first time we are going public with it. We are very close to making an arrangement over leasing land, but to set up a botanical gardens in Jersey we need funding.

‘Jersey has amazing potential and we really do believe we can bring people to Jersey specifically to visit our gardens.’

For more information contact the Botanic Gardens of Jersey Facebook group.

Lupinus flowers in bloom

FOR the next week show-stopping creations from some of Britain’s leading designers will be on display at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show in London.

Held each year in the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the show attracts more than 150,000 visitors, who journey to the capital to walk around the 11-acre grounds.

The event was originally called the Great Spring Show and was held in Kensington before moving to Chelsea after it grew in popularity.

Each year the Royal Family visit the show as part of their patronage of the RHS.

New plants are often on display, with green-fingered visitors keeping a close eye on the latest gardening trends.

Grounds at the Chelsea Flower Show often feature stunning areas, which visitors are free to exploreDesigners experiment each year to come up with beautiful, creative gardens

Check out a short clip of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2014 below:

Lily pads at Kew Gardens, courtesy of Royal Botanical Gardens Kew

  • Founded in 1840 Kew Gardens contains the world’s largest collection of living plants
  • There are 30,000 different kinds of living plants and Kew’s huge herbarium has more than 7 million preserved specimens
  • It remains one of London’s top attractions and in 2003 was placed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites
  • The grounds, the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, contains 300 acres of land
  • It has its own specialised police force called the Kew Constabulary, who are responsible for patrolling the gardens
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