Bristol Zoo is due to home a garden inspired by British rainforests following its appearance at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
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The Bristol Zoo Project, which was formally known as the Wild Place Project, is the latest incarnation of Bristol Zoo, following the original site's closure in 2022. It will be the new home of The Wildlife Trusts' British Rainforest Garden, designed by Zoe Claymore for the Chelsea Flower Show 2025.
The British Rainforest Garden is being sponsored by Project Giving Back in support of The Wildlife Trusts and is inspired by the 100-year mission of the charity, alongside Aviva, to bring rainforests back to the UK.
The garden will be placed within the 136 acres of woodland and meadow landscape of the Bristol Zoo Project, north of Bristol. It is due to open to the public in October, within the zoo's Sanctuary Garden, which explores the importance of gardens and natural habitats as places of health and wellbeing for people.
The garden itself is intended to be used as a 'living classroom' to inspire future conservationists and celebrate the wildlife found in the surrounding area.
“Somebody standing in the garden will feel moisture in the air, they will hear water and smell moss,” says designer Zoe Claymore of her British Rainforest Garden, with its backdrop of a large fern wall and waterfall that has been inspired by the Dart Valley in Devon.
A gently ramped boardwalk leads up to a seating area in the form of a big stone boulder, which is surrounded by planting largely made up of shades of green, including several easy-to-source mosses and ferns, with colour coming from the likes of Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Caltha palustris and Digitalis purpurea.
Justin Morris, chief executive of Bristol Zoological Society, said: “We are extremely excited about the arrival of the British Rainforest Garden later this year. It will fit perfectly into our Sanctuary Garden. This area will form the beginning of a new ‘gardens’ biome at Bristol Zoo Project."
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Designer Zoe Claymore added: "The chance to educate the next generation of conservationists and gardeners is truly a huge honour and I and my team are proud to play a part in this. Our thanks go to The Wildlife Trusts, Project Giving Back and Aviva for giving us the opportunity to promote the incredibly important habitats our native rainforests support and we look forward to sharing the garden with Bristol Zoo Project visitors later this year.”
