Don\u2019t miss our guide to everything you need to know about the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023<\/a> and our list this year\u2019s main show gardens<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tom Massey returns to the show with his third Chelsea garden, this time for the Royal Entomological Society<\/a> (RES). Here he tells us more about his design.<\/p>\n \u201cThe brief was, essentially, to highlight how we humans are really important to insects, and to get people interested and engaged with insect life. The garden is all about insect science and the importance of the choices we make in how we maintain and manage our garden spaces, and in the types of planting and materials that we include.\u201d<\/p>\n Designer<\/strong> Tom Massey.<\/p>\n Sponsors<\/strong> Project Giving Back for the Royal Entomological Society.<\/p>\n Contractor<\/strong> Landscape Associates.<\/p>\n Plants<\/strong> Hortus Loci.<\/p>\n Theme<\/strong> How important humans\u00a0are to insects.<\/p>\n After the show<\/strong> The garden will occupy a public space between the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, and be used as an outreach and research resource by the RES.<\/p>\n Contact<\/strong> tommassey.co.uk\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> The most striking feature of the design is a central outdoor laboratory constructed out of laser-cut steel panels, its structure inspired by the shape of an insect\u2019s eye. \u201cIt provides a space for insects to be collected, identified and studied under microscopes, and then displayed on a screen in the middle of the garden, showing insects on a really magnified scale to visitors,\u201d says Tom. \u201cWhen you look at them up close, they\u2019re fascinating creatures.\u201d<\/p>\n Other key elements are the different types of insect habitat that will be seen around the garden. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a whole fallen tree cut into sections and suspended on steel poles over the planting, and panels filled with different types of material from construction waste to leaf mould, brush and wood.\u201d There will be a varied topography with many textural mulches: bare sand, piles of rubble and large lumps of concrete instead of boulders. \u201cIt is going to have quite a raw feel that will be softened by the planting, and the look and feel of a site that\u2019s been reclaimed by nature.\u201d<\/p>\n Inspired by the biodiversity<\/a> found on brownfield sites, the planting features a backbone of native plants, including hawthorn<\/a> and Scot\u2019s pine<\/a> trees, and wildflowers<\/a> such as Echium vulgare<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 1 An outdoor laboratory<\/strong> inspired by the shape of an insect\u2019s eye, made from curving steel panels. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Find out more about Tom\u2019s garden in our Talking Gardens Chelsea podcast<\/a>, available from 16 May.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss Tom Massey\u2019s exclusive new series<\/a>, created with experts from the Royal Entomological Society, to discover intriguing facts about different insects every month, including despised garden \u2018pests\u2019 like aphids.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sign up to our Chelsea Flower Show Daily Digest newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n Chelsea Flower Show 2023: tickets, information, dates and what\u2019s on<\/a>![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/18\/2023\/04\/Web-Use-The-Royal-Entomological-Society-Garden-designed-by-Tom-Massey-0724004.jpg?quality=90&resize=557%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nWhat to look out for<\/h4>\n
More on the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show:<\/h4>\n