Ebola crisis inspires a Milton Keynes charity's garden design at Chelsea Flower Show

Garden designer John Warland, who is the designer behind the Queen’s Coronation Arch at Windsor Castle, took the unpredictability of life as his starting point, to create a stunning, and thought-provoking, horticultural installation for the children’s charity.

The garden that is inspired by the vulnerability of children, especially those surviving in extreme places, features ribbons of grass rising up to two meters. The grass is molded over mild steel so that it appears as if it has just been peeled from the earth. The natural rustiness of the metal helps create the illusion that you are looking at the earthy underside of the turf.

It also includes large pyrus chanticleer trees and densely planted orange tulips and springtime anemones to provoke, says John, “uplifting hope for uncertain times.”

John, who was inspired by the charity’s work in Sierra Leone throughout the Ebola crisis, explains that the ribbons of turf reflect the community and family links World Vision forges through their work.

“One ribbon alone is relatively weak, but as a chain it takes on a whole new strength,” he says. “The traumatic events of the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone are a good example of how a fragmented society torn apart by disease and fear can be slowly woven into a strong and coherent community once more.”

Sierra Leone is one of the three countries that were affected by the worst Ebola outbreak in history last year. The outbreak produced over 27,600 infections across Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, of which some 11,260 were fatal.

World Vision has been supporting the Ebola response since the outbreak - providing safe and dignified burial work for Ebola victims, distributing food for quarantined families and providing psychological support for children orphaned through Ebola.

The international children’s charity aiming to improve the lives of the world’s poorest children by working closely with communities to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Through funds from Child Sponsorship it helps families have better access to water, education and healthcare. World Vision, a Christian charity, has a continued presence in almost 100 countries, so when disasters strike it is able to respond immediately and effectively to protect children who are particularly vulnerable in emergencies.

For details visit worldvision.org.uk