A month has passed since the whirlwind of RHS Chelsea Flower Show, and as the dust settles, we’ve had the chance to reflect on what an incredible experience it was.
It was an honour to be invited to take part in Tom Massey’s Royal Entomological Society (RES) Show Garden, sponsored by Project Giving Back. His stunning design highlighted the essential role insects play in sustaining ecosystems, making it the perfect space to showcase our ecoacoustic technology.
Listening to the Life Beneath Our Feet
At RHS Chelsea, we introduced the public to our Soil Listening Station, an innovative tool designed to reveal the hidden world beneath our feet. Each morning, we ventured behind the scenes of the RES show garden to collect insects for our lab tank, setting the stage for visitors to experience the sounds of the soil first-hand. Through our simple mantra “a noisy soil is a healthy soil”, we demonstrated how bioacoustics can be used to assess soil health and promote sustainable land management.
Inspiring the Next Generation
Our presence at RHS Chelsea was about more than just technology, it was about inspiring the future of soil science. We had the pleasure of meeting PhD students eager to learn how academic research can be transformed into real-world solutions. By showcasing how soil acoustics can drive positive change in agriculture and land management, we hope to encourage more researchers to explore commercial applications for their studies.
Celebrating Sustainable Design
Spending time with the RES show garden’s talented designer, Tom Massey, was a highlight of our week. His ability to create breath-taking, insect-friendly spaces is truly inspiring. His work even prompted the RHS to expand its ‘Plants for Pollinators’ list – an important step towards enhancing biodiversity in gardens across the UK. Now that the show is over, Tom’s garden will be relocated to IQL Stratford, where it will continue to provide a haven for urban wildlife. We are exited about the possibility of conducting long-term acoustic monitoring for the site, helping to track its ecological impact over time.
Supporting Insect Research
The Chelsea Flower Show also gave us the opportunity to attend the RES fundraising auction and dusk drinks event, hosted within the show garden. The garden took on an entirely new magic in the evening light, providing a stunning setting for an event that raised vital funds for insect research. The auction brought together an array of guests, from legal firm Mischon de Reya to sustainability champions like Koppert and Yeo Valley. We were especially thrilled to see two lucky winners secure our ‘Wild Sound Experience’ auction prize, and we can’t wait to join them for an immersive soil listening session later this summer.
Our time at RHS Chelsea Flower Show was an unforgettable experience. From engaging with visitors and researchers to showcasing the power of soil acoustics, we were proud to play a part in raising awareness of soil health and the importance of ecoacoustics. As the conversation around sustainable agriculture grows, we’re excited to see where this technology can take us next.
Interested in learning more about how sound can reveal the secrets of soil health? Get in touch with us via email at info@soilacoustics.com – we’d love to hear from you.
