It’s almost impossible to grow up near the extraordinary grey-headed flying foxes in the Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, and not be deeply inspired by bats.

These extraordinary creatures are enormous, like small cats wrapped in leathery wings, and appear utterly unbothered by the city around them.

As a child, I would see them at dusk as they would fill the sky along the Yarra River, travelling as far as the fruit orchards of central Victoria for the night’s feed.

I was completely captivated by these creatures as much as I was by the leaf skeletons left behind as leaf litter rotted away in our garden.

I now take my own young family out to watch bats in the UK and on holiday in places like Lisbon, where you can spot bats in the middle of the city.

When I came to the UK 20 years ago, and eventually trained in garden design at Capel Manor College, I finished my final classroom sessions in what turned out to be the months just before the world went into lockdown. I then set out to make sustainability and biodiversity with style the focus of my work in garden designs.

Working with the Bat Conservation Trust on this project brought all of that childhood fascination rushing back, but reframed around Britain’s own remarkable bat species.

I knew the garden could have a second act long after we are tucked up indoors at night, so the chance to share this message with the international audience of garden lovers at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was one I had to seize. We are used to planting for pollinators, but this idea takes that thinking one step up the food chain.

The plants that matter most

The dark and moody Nocturnal Garden is my ode to the UK’s bats. Its form is black, and shaped like a bat’s wing.

It is built around a simple premise: bats eat insects, insects need plants, so plants are a foundation of bat conservation. We’ve developed a full downloadable plant list, but if I had to name just three that anyone could grow to make a difference, they would be these.

Night-scented stock is a joy to have at home. It makes sitting out on a summer’s evening with a nice glass of something a joy. It’s relatively easy to grow, as are most of the plants in the Nocturnal Garden.

Then foxgloves. This is often a wind-blown arriviste. Sometimes found nestled against fences or fallen trees and stumps, it’s easy and striking and bees love it too. I am taken by all the new hues, but I do really love the vibrant pink of the species.

Third, ivy. I know it divides opinion, but ivy in flower is one of the most insect-rich plants you can have in a British garden over winter. The late-season nectar supports a cascade of invertebrate life that bats depend on well into October and November. Leave some be and you will also save your own time and energy that would otherwise be spent needlessly pulling it out.

If you have a window box with some shelter, these will grow there, as they will in a park or large garden. This garden is an invitation to all to plant a few bits and pieces that help feed the invertebrates that help to feed bats.

More than planting

A scrying pool that reflects the bright future of bats in the UK is the water element of the garden. Plants are only part of the story. This is still and relatively shallow, showing you how an easy-to-clean water feature can support the invertebrate life cycle that supports bats. This also taps into folk elements of the British nature-focused tradition. We can all do with focusing and reflecting on what’s to come and how we can shape the future. This gentle pool hopefully encourages that.

Dark-sky standard lighting matters to bats. So I am working with dark sky specialist, Hudson Lighting, for the garden. Visitors in the evening will see low-level lighting and we will be sure to capture images for those who are not at the evening events. We’re talking less lighting and light down, rather than uplighting. As a reader of this magazine, you will know that this helps support the full life cycle of invertebrates.

The timber used in the rear fence will be repurposed into bat boxes after the show, so even the boundary structure will have a second life to support bat conservation.

A benevolent bat mother spirit

I include original art in all my gardens, and for this, I commissioned Dark Amber from emerging British artist, Tach Pollard. I first spotted Tach’s small-scale sculptures in hawthorn root and asked him to carve at the largest scale he has worked at. He has brought his folkloric spirit to the Nocturnal Garden with a sculpture in reclaimed cedar that stands over 4m high and watches over the garden as a mother bat does her pup.

Dark Amber is available to purchase – a symbol of your support for BCT and bat conservation could live on in your very own garden.

See you at Chelsea!

The Bat Conservation Trust’s Nocturnal Garden is at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 19–23 May 2026. You can learn more about the garden and download the plant list here.

Thank you to Project Giving Back for sponsoring the Nocturnal Garden.