Guernsey Press

Kew launches new garden designed to reconnect children with nature

The Royal Botanic Gardens has spent five years developing the Children’s Garden, filled with hundreds of mature trees and plants.

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Kew Gardens has launched a garden aiming to reconnect children with nature.

The Royal Botanic Gardens has spent five years developing the Children’s Garden in a bid to create a sensory experience for youngsters aged two to 12.

On Thursday, 30 pupils from Dormers Wells Junior School in Southall, west London, used the new giant garden, which covers 10,000 square metres – nearly the size of 40 tennis courts.

A child on a trampoline in the new garden
A trampoline in the new garden (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

“They are able to learn as well as play and be right in the middle of nature.

“There is so much for them to see, and they are probably not even realising how much they are taking in.”

Children running through a light tunnel in the garden
Children running through a light tunnel in the garden (Kirsty O’Connor/PA)

Lead garden designer Suzie Jewell, 38, said she wanted the garden to be a space with play elements in it, rather than a playground with plants in.

“This garden, in particular, was designed around the elements that plants need to grow: earth, air, sun and water, which gives the different spaces in the garden a different character,” she said.

The Children’s Garden opens to the public on May 18.

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