This garden, created for Chester Zoo’s Wild Worlds Festival, seeks to reveal the often hidden conservation work of Chester Zoo. It is inspired by the Zoo’s work to better understand the rise and fall of native Dormouse populations, and how we can best manage native woodland habitats to safeguard their important role in our ecosystems.
The garden comprises of a hazel grove under-planted with a rich under-story of cyclamen, ferns, grasses and herbs. At the centre of the garden, surrounded by modest earthworks and framed with a sculptural reveal is a sunken square. Set within this square are 21 posts covered from floor to top in dormouse tubes, representing the 21,000 dormouse tubes surveyed in the field. These tubes contain various interactive elements unfolding the Dormouse story to visitors young and old.