River & Rowing Museum Provides Ratty's Refuge At Chelsea
- Chelsea Garden Highlights Plight Of The Water Vole -
- 100th Birthday Celebrations of The Wind in the Willows -
- Gardeners Urged to Help Save Ratty -

12 March 2008: Inspiring gardeners to help save the water vole, one of the UK's most endangered mammals, is the theme of a new garden - River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge - at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 20 - 24 May, 2008. The garden also celebrates the 100th birthday of Kenneth Grahame's classic book The Wind in the Willows, in which Ratty, a water vole, is the star.

Garden sponsor, The River & Rowing Museum - which has a gallery dedicated to river ecology and houses the UK's only The Wind in the Willows exhibition - hopes the garden will inspire and motivate waterside gardeners and those within 1km of a watercourse, to get involved in helping to secure Ratty's survival.

The water vole is Britain's fastest declining mammal. 1990 levels recorded a national water vole population of just over seven million across the UK. By 1998 numbers had crashed to less than 1 million, a decline of almost 90 per cent in just seven years. Predation by American Mink and poor watercourse management have accelerated its decline. The Government has recognised its plight and from 6 April 2008 the water vole will be given extra protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Gardeners are uniquely placed to help halt the water vole's decline - and can do so with style. The River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge garden demonstrates how native planting can create a green refuge for water voles and other wildlife as well as creating a beautiful garden. The garden's ideas and planting scheme are based upon a small urban garden, but can be adopted by a garden of any size.

River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge was designed by Capel Manor College graduates Angela Potter and Ann Robinson of English Eden, in consultation with The Wildlife Trusts, and is sponsored by the River & Rowing Museum. British Wildflower Plants have supplied a range of plants and Water in the South East is also supporting the project.

The Garden's website - www.rattysrefuge.co.uk - provides planting ideas and tips [see Top Tips below] for water vole-friendly gardens as well as blogs and pictures charting the progress of River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge at Chelsea.

Young water voles usually disperse and settle somewhere between 500m-1km from the site where they were born, travelling along watercourses until they find empty, suitable habitat in which they make their home. Gardens beside watercourses that have been planted and landscaped to benefit water voles can be hugely valuable in helping water vole populations to grow. The effect is considerably increased if gardeners work together to create a series of suitable habitats as this helps to join up fragmented water courses and bring populations of water voles together.

The Wind in the Willows
The water vole captured the public's imagination 100 years ago through the character 'Ratty' in Kenneth Grahame's classic book The Wind in the Willows, which celebrates its publication Centenary this year. The mild mannered, water loving Ratty is still hugely popular and is the character to whom the famous phrase "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats" is attributed. The Wind in the Willow's 100th birthday provides a perfect opportunity to start inspiring gardeners to help halt Ratty's decline.

After Chelsea
Following the Chelsea Flower Show, River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge will be translated to the River & Rowing Museum's riverside location at Henley-on-Thames (www.rrm.co.uk). It will complement the Museum's permanent exhibition on The Wind in the Willows and the Thames Gallery, which explores river ecology and wildlife - all subjects close to Ratty's heart. The Museum also has galleries dedicated to the sport of rowing and the town of Henley-on-Thames.

Creating River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge
Unveiled at Chelsea, River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge will be a small contemporary urban garden (5 x 5m) using naturalistic planting to create a green refuge for people and wildlife. Lush planting contrasts with the geometric simplicity of environmentally-friendly Maine decking, (made of recycled wood flour and plastic film material). The planting is a mixture of native species from postcode CB3 (Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, where the garden was originally designed) together with garden cultivars predominantly green with yellow, together with blue and white in colour.
The water vole, the largest vole in Britain, is a herbivore. It eats a wide variety of native plants, seeds and berries and is particularly partial to sedges and reeds. The garden's planting of native willows and moisture-loving plants provide the water vole with food and habitat (eg Reed Canary Grass Phalaris arundinacea and Yellow Flag Iris Iris pseudocorus). The garden's small pond provides the visiting water vole with a supplementary habitat away from the main water source. The earth bank is at a 45 degree profile into which the water vole can burrow and nest.

A glass-mounted picture of a water vole, taken by award-winning wildlife photographer Andrew Parkinson, provides the garden's focal point and pays reference to the garden's principle theme. The native plants needed to create the water vole habitat in River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge are being supplied by British Wildflower Plants.

Paul Mainds, Trustee & Chief Executive, River & Rowing Museum, said: "Ratty is one of the most popular characters in English literature and the garden coupled with the Centenary of The Wind in the Willows provides a real opportunity to highlight the plight of the Water Vole.

"We hope the garden proves hugely popular at Chelsea and gardeners leave inspired to help the water vole. When the garden is translated at the River & Rowing Museum, it will be used to inspire our visitors and school parties and demonstrate what is possible. Hopefully it will also increase the number of water voles around the Museum!"

Helen Perkins, National Water Vole Coordinator, The Wildlife Trusts, said: "The water vole is one of the target species of The Wildlife Trusts and gardeners can help halt its decline! We're working to halt further population decline and encourage water voles to expand their range across cities and in the wider countryside. Creating wetland habitats in gardens can help to reduce the fragmentation of populations and can benefit a range of other species such a dragonflies and amphibians."

Angela Potter, Designer, English Eden, said: "We've taken part in water vole conservation projects and also seen how beneficial native planting in gardens can be to water voles. It's tremendously exciting to create River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge at Chelsea and we hope it inspires gardeners to add plants and water features that can help save this adorable little animal."

Sally Howe, from Water in the South East, a partnership of water companies in the South East of England, said: "This garden shows how it is possible to create a beautiful wildlife haven within a small urban space. With the growing trend of hard landscaping front gardens to create parking spaces, we are pleased to be able to promote a sustainable approach to gardening which enhances the natural environment and encourages more green space."

The Wildlife Trusts' Top Tips For A Water Vole Friendly Garden:
Tips, and other advice, also on (www.rattysrefuge.co.uk)
If your garden backs on to a stream, river, canal or other watercourse:

1. Leave a buffer strip (ideally two metres or more wide) of grasses and other plants along the water's edge to provide food and cover for water voles.
2. Mow the buffer strip once a year in autumn to limit scrub colonisation and increase plant diversity.
   
3. Keep banksides open to encourage the lush grasses and other green plants water voles favour.
4. Consider coppicing existing trees and shrubs to increase light levels if appropriate.

If your garden is close to a river, stream, canal or other watercourse:

1. Create a pond with an adjacent wetland area, lining the pond in the traditional way with clay if you can, rather than with butyl or other synthetic materials.
2. Site your pond away from overhanging trees and check the location of service cables and drains before digging!
3. Give your pond a varied bank profile, with banks of around 45 degrees for water voles, and shallower sloping areas that can utilised by amphibians and invertebrates.
4. Ensure that the pond has areas where water is 25cm-50cm deep.
5. Ensure there is open space approximately 10 cm deep along the base of at least one garden boundary to allow access for water voles and other wildlife.
6. Create a shelf around the edge of the pond that can be planted with marginal plants such as Yellow Flag Iris and rushes.
7. Use the Natural History Museum's postcode plants database to find help choosing suitable native plants for your pond. (Access the database at www.rattysrefuge.co.uk)
8. Make sure that you don't buy any non-native invasive aquatic plants for your pond. Check out the links on www.rattysrefuge.co.uk for advice and information on which plants to avoid.
   

Top tips for water use in the garden
Water is a finite resource and correct water use in the garden is vitally important to help reduce its waste. Water in the South East recommends:

Using a mulch on the garden to help keep the ground moist and reduce evaporation
Using water retaining products in pots and hanging baskets
Not watering established trees, shrubs or lawns - they just don't need it
Watering plants directly around the roots
Collecting rainwater from down pipes and guttering for watering the garden
Only watering new lawns for around four weeks - established lawns don't need watering


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Notes to Editors
The River & Rowing Museum attracts over 90,000 visitors a year and celebrates three themes:

 The past, present and future of the River Thames;
 The historic riverside community of Henley on Thames;
 The international sport of rowing.

These themes are explored through a wide variety of exhibitions and events across four galleries and special exhibitions. One of the Museum's major successes has been The Wind in the Willows exhibition which recreates the timeless E H Shepard illustrations from Kenneth Grahame's famous novel. Since opening in August 1998 the Museum has received numerous awards for its design and architecture, including the National Heritage/NPI Museum of the Year award. The River & Rowing Museum is part of the Thames Valley Museums Group (TVMG) Family Friendly initiative - a scheme which brings together 29 museums across Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, to promote their popular appeal to the whole family

	Address The River & Rowing Museum, Mills Meadows, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 1BF. Tel. 01491 415600. Web: www.rrm.co.uk
	The museum, terrace café and shop is open every day from 10am - 5.30pm in summer and 10am - 5pm in the winter
	Paid for tickets are valid for re-entry to the museum for 12 months
	Admission for The Wind in the Willows including the Galleries: £7 for adults, £5 for children and £6 for senior citizens and concessions
	Admission for the Museum Galleries: £3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children and £3 for senior citizens and concessions
	Free parking for visitors

English Eden (www.english-eden.co.uk)
Angela Potter and Ann Robinson, graduates of Capel Manor College, founded English Eden in 2006 after leaving careers in tourism and the law to pursue second careers in garden design. The pair have a strong interest in ecology and sustainability. In 2007 they won a runners up prize in a competition to design a water show garden for Grand Marnier and Anglo Aquarium Plant Company. Their design 'Spirit of the Charente' was inspired by the palace of Versailles and the ecology of the Charente River. In the same year they were involved in the Capel Manor College's RHS Chelsea Flower Show garden, Growing Together In Faith which won a Silver Gilt Medal.

For River & Rowing Museum's Ratty's Refuge, Potter and Robinson have been assisted by fellow Capel Manor College graduates, garden designers, Jean Thomas and Sylvia Ong-Mörtl.

English Eden provides garden design services across South East England.


Water in the South East (www.waterinthesoutheast.com)
Water in the South East is a partnership of water companies in the South East of England (Folkestone & Dover Water, Mid Kent Water, Portsmouth Water, South East Water, Southern Water, Sutton & East Surrey Water, Three Valleys Water) along with the Environment Agency, Consumer Council for Water and Waterwise. The partnership aims to raise the profile of sustainable water management and use within the South East of England. It recognises that gardeners across the UK have an important role in developing and maintaining wildlife habitats but it is keen to promote respect for the environment and that beautiful gardens are not dependent upon the use of large quantities of top quality tap water.


The Wildlife Trusts (www.wildlifetrusts.org)
There are 47 local Wildlife Trusts across the whole of the UK, the Isle of Man and Alderney, working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. With 726,000 members, The Wildlife Trusts are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK's habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. 135,000 of their members belong to the junior branch, Wildlife Watch. Managing 2,200 nature reserves covering more than 80,000 hectares; The Wildlife Trusts stand up for wildlife; inspiring people about the natural world and fostering sustainable living.


British Wild Flower Plants (www.wildflowers.co.uk)
British Wild Flower Plants specialises in growing 400 species of native plants. Their plants have known provenance and guarantee of origin with many plants from their own seed collections and they have been peat free since 1991. British Wild Flower Plants supply and grow plants for gardens at most of the yearly shows. Gardens supplied by them have won 6 Gold and 4 Silver Guilt medals as well the people's award and best in show at all major RHS Shows. British Wild Flower Plants contract grows plants for large planting schemes such as road and landscape projects throughout the UK which has included the Millennium Dome and the Channel Tunnel. The company also supplies Garden centres across the UK with planting packs for the home wild flower gardener.


Andrew Parkinson (www.andrewparkinson.com)
Andrew is a multi-award winning wildlife photographer whose work is represented by nine of the most prestigious image agencies around the world including Getty Images and Corbis. His work has been published in more than 30 countries worldwide and his photo features appear frequently in publications such as BBC Wildlife. He has a passion for British wildlife and when he's not in the UK he can be found on location around the world. So far he's worked on six continents and later this year will be spending two months in the Falkland Islands.


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