A garden explaining carbon capture in nature? Head to Kew in London

If you feel a little unsure about 'carbon', head to 'Carbon Garden', the newest addition to Kew's Royal Botanic Gardens in London, to find out more about this magical, seemingly omnipresent, chemical element. The new exhibit, a lush, newly planted and landscaped area complete with a new pavilion by Mizzi Studio, has just been unveiled with a single quest - to entice and inform its visitors about carbon capture in nature and how it can be leveraged to help sustain life on Earth.

What is at the heart of Kew's new 'Carbon Garden'?

Making a frequent appearance in discussions about climate change, 'carbon' is 'quite literally ‘stardust’,' Kew's experts explain, 'carbon is the building block of life.' Too much released carbon, however, can cause global temperatures to rise. Typically stored underground in soil, sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels, this essential component for life can be captured by plants and fungi, therefore, helping restore natural balance in nature and helping us combat climate change.

Richard Wilford, Head of Garden Design at Kew, explains that ‘by 2050, the climate of London would be equivalent to that traditionally found in Barcelona. This garden is about informing people about what carbon is, its stories interpreted through plants.'

To tell these stories, the garden is divided into three main areas. They include a depiction of a graphic chart of the Earth's rising temperatures expressed through correspondingly-coloured flowers; a dry garden, which shows how the British garden might change, come 2050, featuring plants that thrive in more arid conditions; and a garden that shows how we can adapt to climate change.

The last section focuses on creating rain gardens with swales (designs that collect and slow down rainwater absorption, protecting existing plants) and encouraging biodiversity. 'Promoting biodiversity in a garden is really important for an ecosystem to capture carbon better, naturally,' Wilford highlights. 'And if a tree has fallen, it is best to leave it to rot down slowly and naturally, so that its nutrients go back into nature.'

At Carbon Garden's heart, an umbrella-like pavilion stands tall, offering pleasing shade for visitors. Its volume is purposefully vague and organic-inspired, as its creator, Jonathan Mizzi, head of the Maltese architecture practice Mizzi Studio, explains: 'It's not quite a plant, nor quite a mushroom. It emerges from the ground.' Crafted (with the help of engineers AtelierOne) out of natural materials - granite base, European larch trunk and a moulded top out of natural fibres, such as linen - its role is to embody the garden's mission around carbon understanding.

It also acts as a funnel, collecting rainwater which is then recycled to water the plants; while providing shelter for visitors resting on the benches underneath, and a focal point for the entire display.

Strategies such as supporting grasslands, wildflower meadows and native hedgerows can be critical in locking in carbon - as displayed by the permanent exhibit's 35 new trees and 6500 plants, which will be cared for and encouraged to thrive naturally by the organisation's expert caretakers. All this and more, plus that visceral wellness kick we get from visiting a lush, leafy space, are some of the takeaways from a visit to Kew's new Carbon Garden.

Wilford adds: 'The Carbon Garden offers a unique opportunity to showcase our ongoing research, combining scientific insight with thoughtful design and beautiful planting to highlight the role of carbon in our lives, how it moves through the environment and how plants and fungi can help us tackle climate change. We hope the Carbon Garden inspires visitors to act and join us in shaping a more sustainable, resilient future for life on our planet.’