The builder of the £300,000 Chelsea Flower Show garden that was ‘permanently damaged’ by Just Stop Oil zealots who threw orange paint over it today has branded them ‘absolute morons’.
Award-winning landscaper Gareth Wilson said that the eco-mob had ‘failed to do their homework’ by targeting the sustainable show garden at the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship event and vowed to buy the have-a-go heroine who hosed the group a ‘jug of Pimms’.
The three women climbed over a rope barrier at around 9am this morning and smothered the RBC Brewin Dolphin Garden, designed by Paul Hervey-Brookes, an award-winning plantsman, with the orange powder made of ‘biodegradable cornstarch’.
The incident, caught on camera, prompted witnesses to shout abuse at the protesters, with one man heard saying: ‘Oh no, oh for god’s, you morons – all you’re doing is ruining them, you prats.’
Mr Wilson said of the protesters: ‘Quite frankly, these people are absolute morons who have failed to do their homework.
‘The RHS is massively – probably more than any other organisation of their kind – moving heaven and earth to push for sustainability. It just won’t accept your design if it is not sustainable.
‘You have to meet rigorous requirements, showing that you are using sustainable products and UK-sourced plants and materials wherever possible.
‘At the end of the day, we are planting trees and plants, most of which will get re-homed at the end of the show. There is no petrol allowed on site.
‘If they were doing this protest outside an oil refinery or a company that was using oil or polluting the atmosphere, or pouring oil into rivers, I am not saying I would understand it but I would have a little bit of sympathy.
‘But these morons have come into a sustainable showground. They are working against their own cause.’
Mr Wilson said that the display, which is largely due to be recycled, had been permanently damaged by the orange substance made of ‘biodegradable cornstarch’ getting into paving.
He said: ‘It is an act of vandalism and absolutely shameful what they have done. The paving is supposed to be going to a charity after the show.
‘They poured that dye all over the plants. How are we now going to re-use those?’
The landscaper said that it is already ‘extremely hard’ for designers to attract sponsors like wealth management firm Brewin Dolphin prepared to fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He said: ‘Brewin Dolphin have poured a fortune into this garden, which cost around £300,000. We are all pulling together – sponsor, designer, landscaper – because they want sustainability as well.
‘These sponsors need to be looked after to promote their companies and charities. They put a lot of faith in us and these morons are affecting what we are trying to do.’
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