Gemma and Aisling were invited to speak to some of the incredible people behind the new Carbon Garden at Kew Gardens in London which opened in July 2025. This is part 1 with part 2 to follow in two weeks.

This extraordinary new space explores the story of carbon and how important it is to life on Earth. More than just a beautiful garden, this project communicates the scale of the climate crisis while celebrating the remarkable power of plants and mycorrhizal fungi as our planet's natural allies. With 35 carefully selected trees and 6,500 beautiful plants, the Carbon Garden is one of Kew Gardens' most ambitious garden projects in recent years.

The garden is filled with lots of brilliant features including a rain garden and a stunning central pavilion, which has been inspired by fungi and made with natural materials. Some of the planting also takes inspiration from the climate stripes, which were created by Professor Ed Hawkins at the University of Reading.

Each of the guests were unique, fun and above all so passionate about what they do. It was lovely to hear their story in person.

In part 1 we chat to

Richard Wilford – Designer of the Carbon Garden and Head of garden design at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Kevin Martin – Head of Tree Collections at Royal Botanic Garden Kew

Laura M. Suz – Senior research leader in mycology at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew

Resources:

Kew Gardens - https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens

Kew Gardens Carbon Garden - https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-in-the-gardens/carbon-garden

Climate stripes - https://showyourstripes.info/

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