Taking inspiration from the Royal Entomological Society’s book ‘RES Insects: Discover the Science and Secrets Behind the World of Insects’, the garden highlights the beauty that lies in the miniature world of invertebrates, and how we can all encourage, the often overlooked but highly beneficial insects in gardens and green spaces
Designed by a team of full and part-time Sparsholt students, the exhibit will be staged in the RHS Chelsea Great Pavilion and explores the various plants and habitats that encourage and support beneficial insects in different horticultural settings.
“The team have fully embraced this year’s theme, researching and learning about beneficial insects such as moths, springtails and earwigs. We can’t wait to share our garden with visitors at RHS Chelsea 2025 and we hope they learn to love insects as much as we have!” said Lucy Lewis, Horticulture Lecturer at Sparsholt College and designer of ‘The Ugly Bug Ball’ garden.
Garden design
The garden design consists of four integrated areas, which surround a small house with modern and biodiverse wildflower roof – all essential in supporting a diverse range of insects.
The garden areas:
- Shady, damp area including wildlife pond and log habitats
- Woodland edge which is home to a log store complete with a biodiverse roof and modern moth monitoring tools
- Hot/dry area with seating spaces designed with various insect friendly techniques to enhance habitat
- Wildflower and footpath developed using recycled paving, interplanted with selection of wildflowers
“Healthy gardens and green spaces rely on a network of invertebrates – most of them insects – to provide food for birds and small mammals, to process waste materials and turn them back into enriched soil and to manage the ecosystem by eating larvae and other invertebrates. Ants, earwigs, aphids, wasps, springtails – without them, the world simply wouldn’t work and some of our greatest human innovations wouldn’t have been possible. We’ve teamed up with Sparsholt College to continue the conversation with gardeners we started in 2023, with our garden designed by Tom Massey and supported by Project Giving Back, and we can’t wait to continue singing the praises of some of the most beautiful and fascinating common garden insects,” explained Simon Ward, CEO of The Royal Entomological Society.
The design also looks to the future of biodiversity in gardens and explores the continual developments of new plants, showcased through the RHS Chelsea Plant of the Year entries hosted in the garden.
Sparsholt College is celebrating its 125th academic year in 2025, the RHS Chelsea exhibit will help the college continue its long tradition of sharing knowledge and expertise with as many people as possible.
