The garden-artwork that positively reframes ‘weeds’

The Turner prize-winning architecture practice Assemble, together with garden designer Sarah Alun-Jones, have created their first garden: a project that challenges our negative associations with weeds.

Now established at Begbroke Science Park, part of the University of Oxford, The Weed Garden is built with materials sourced locally in the Cotswolds. The walls and furniture are made from grey and cream oolitic limestone (a type of limestone made up of small spheres or ‘ooiliths’ that are stuck together by lime mud]) sourced from Grange Hill Quarry, 28 miles away. Enclosed by a large beech hedge, ‘weeds’ such as linaria, hawksbit, teasel and verbascum reach to the sky, alongside wild grasses.

The focus on weeds is especially apt as, from 1960 to 1985, Begbroke was home to the headquarters of the UK’s Weed Research Organisation – one of the world’s most influential centres of weed science, where weed killers were developed and tested.

“The jumping off point for the design of the garden came from the horticultural definition of a weed, which is simply ‘a plant in the wrong place’,” explained Alun-Jones.

“People often think there’s a lot more to it than that, maybe some kind of scientific definition, but it’s simply a question of perception. We took inspiration from the plants that were found on the site when it was a derelict car park. Some of these were ‘weeds’, as well as wildflowers and native species.”

Weeds also serve many useful purposes. If we can learn to see them slightly differently, many are also incredibly beautiful

Alun-Jones explained that many weeds are closely related to prized cultivated plants but have been classified as ‘bad’ by generations of horticulturalists who prized neatness above everything else.

“The garden aims to show the complexity of these relationships, and to chip away at the lines that we draw to judge certain plants and put them into categories that are in reality quite blurry. Weeds also serve many useful purposes, from cycling nutrients and protecting soil to providing food and habitat for insects. If we can learn to see them slightly differently, many are also incredibly beautiful.”

The Weed Garden is the result of Another Landscape, a new public arts strategy by Oxford University Developments for the Begbroke Innovation District, a research site for science technology innovation. The strategy was developed by Company, Place, a practice that specialises in sustainable arts and culture initiatives for the built environment. Founder Vickie Hayward told Positive News that she wanted to bring about a “more reciprocal relationship with the land”.

Many of the species we currently call ‘weeds’ were once important parts of people’s daily lives: a source of materials, medicine, food and local lore

“Many of the species we currently call ‘weeds’ were once important parts of people’s daily lives: a source of materials, medicine, food and local lore. The Weed Garden really encourages people to look at their local habitats in a different way, challenge their perceptions around belonging, engage with ideas around supply chains, bio-regional materials and knowledge exchange. Ultimately, it’s a space to appreciate what is often undervalued.”

The garden will be used to host workshops for other projects in Begbroke’s ongoing development.

Photography: Yesenia Thibault Picazo