The Lemon Tree Trust Garden
Tom Massey’s debut at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2018, this Main Avenue Show Garden was awarded an RHS Silver-Gilt medal. Sponsored by the Lemon Tree Trust charity, the garden was inspired by the resilience, determination and ingenuity of a community of refugees living and gardening in Domiz Camp in Northern Kurdish Iraq.
Designed as a sanctuary to help settle the chaos inherent in forced migration, and created with the input of refugees, the garden highlighted the unexpected beauty found in Domiz camp. It aimed to provide a sense of normality, wellbeing and peace to broken lives.
Tom visited Domiz camp to understand why people displaced from their homes and living in the camp were still gardening and what they were growing. A surprising and inspiring trip, Tom discovered the enduring importance of growing for aesthetic beauty and as a reminder of home, alongside providing food and shelter. Tom spent time with a botanist who had lived in Domiz camp, exploring the surrounding hills set within the Mesopotamian Plain, an area of rich biodiversity.
The tough and hardy plants of the region inspired the drought tolerant planting scheme for the show garden and informed visitors about the type of plants grown in the camp. Ingenious vertical planting was inspired by the refugees’ use of everyday objects and their ideas for planting in limited spaces. Trees laden with fruit, including figs, lemons and pomegranates, provided scent and crops to harvest. Brutal, harsh materials, such as concrete and steel, widely available in the camps, were elevated with techniques such as polishing, casting and crafting into intricate Islamic-inspired designs. These hard materials were softened by areas of colourful and textural planting. Cooling and calming water flowing throughout the garden, collecting in channels and pools, was recycled and pumped back through a brimming, central, Islamic-inspired fountain. This represented the importance of grey water reuse and the many makeshift fountains people had built for their own gardens in Domiz camp.
The Lemon Tree Trust supports the development of urban agriculture and greening innovation for refugees and displaced people, promoting food production, well-being and community.
Photographs by Britt Willoughby Dyer
