This year’s Chelsea Flower Show will be used as a launch platform for a range of innovative and eccentric ‘green’ projects.

For those urbanites keen to increase the green spaces where you live and reduce the ‘heat island’ effect, then Clapton Park Grass Roof Company will be bringing a cross-section of Clapton Park Estate’s green space to the show.

The Grass Roof Company has worked on the landscape design and maintenance of the estate for a number of years and owner John Little has worked hard to change the way that Clapton Park residents engage with their surroundings. He explained: “Put poppies in front of a dull brick wall and suddenly the space makes you smile, all for 50p worth of seed.”

For those interested in learning about the cryopreservation of plants there is the University of Reading’s exhibit ‘The Frozen Ark: Conserving Disappearing Ornamental Plants’.

This display showcases the storage of shoot tips at ultra low temperature for the preservation of disappearing ornamental plant cultivars. It focuses on the University’s collaborative work with the National Chrysanthemum Society, which seeks to establish a secure collection of several hundred old cultivars in danger of being lost.

Visitors eager to improve their garden’s green credentials have the Writtle College display. ‘How Green is My Garden’ is a ‘green audit’ that shows just what one person can do to make their garden environmentally friendly and analyses not only the content but also environmental actions within the garden.

Topics