A Tale of Two Gardens

The Eden Project & Lost Gardens of Heligan

Meredith Plain recently returned from a visit overseas, where she made visiting special gardens a priority. Here she describes two very unique ones.

This is the story about two gardens in the same place and run by the same person - but quite different.

The Eden Project

This is the big garden. It was the one I'd heard about in Australia and what initially drew me to Cornwall. It is big, it is spectacular, it is getting everyone talking about plants and the environment. And it really is spectacular - you come over the hill and are greeted by a breathtaking view - massive round glasshouses, looking like nothing you've ever seen before, nestling in the side of the hill.

It started off as a deserted hole in the ground - a deserted china clay pit. The idea behind this was to build a global garden from nothing. To demonstrate that all the elements could be brought together in different "biomes" to create different ecosystems from scratch. Basically there is a tropical climate, a temperate climate and the English, or outdoor climate.

This in itself is not all that new, I'd been to Kew gardens earlier in the week, and there are similarities in what they are doing - Kew has some of the largest glass houses, and also has large collections of tropical plants, and temperate plants in appropriate environments. The main differences are in the scale, accessibility, style and ethos of the display.

At Eden, the emphasis is on drama and style of presentation - they are bringing us "the living theatre of plants and people". They are attracting huge numbers (over 7 million), in keeping with their objective of entertaining as well as educating the "masses". The scale is often large, such as the giant bee nestling in the massed plantings of flowers and vegetables. Plant stories are illustrated with sculptures, such as the story of Dionysius to illustrate wine growing in the Mediterranean.

There are also attempts to spread more messages. The main one is the importance of plants, and our dependence on them, including in an economic sense. One example of is the illustration of banana production. Increasingly another message they are trying to get out is that of environmental responsibility and sustainability. (This will be the focus of their next major project, but that's another story...) There is easy-to-read information within the exhibits, and lots of references to research and projects they are involved in overseas. There is also an education centre, but this was closed the day I was there due to the installation of a new giant sculpture.

The Eden Project has been likened to a plant theme park, and hasn't been cheap to set up (they are looking for a 51 million pound grant for the next stage), but it is well worth a visit.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

These gardens, although only a few miles away, are a completely different thing to Eden. They are for romantics, keen gardeners and naturalists. They were large, varied gardens set up over several centuries, then "lost" or completely overgrown from 1914 until the founder of the Eden project and a descendant of the original family "discovered" them after a hurricane in 1990 and decided to restore them.

You can now see productive gardens, pleasure gardens, the jungle, and a wildlife hide and research centre. This is a large estate to explore and wander around and savour the different areas, and find the lost gardens for yourself. There is information, but not the same emphasis on interpretation.

You can visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan website at www.heligan.com