Bug Barrels at Hampton Court

We tasked groups of budding designers as young as four years old to create colourfully planted oil drums to be displayed at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival. View their entries.

05 July 2023

Visitors to the 2023 RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival had a chance to see an amazing showcase of 17 Bug Barrels taking over the show ground, designed and planted by children and young people. The theme this year was biodiversity, to help educate visitors on the importance of developing and sustaining healthy ecosystems in their gardens and outdoor spaces. Entrants were encouraged to grow at least 70% of the plants used in their design from seed, cuttings or plug plants, and to use recycled materials as well as peat-free compost. Each design was creative, fun and horticulturally correct (right plant, right place). 

The Circle of Life

Alton Infant School


Using features that can be found in the school grounds, this design focuses on the essentials that living creatures need to survive: food, water and shelter. In this diverse environment, everything plays its own important part.

What the Ladybird Heard

Colnbrook School, Watford


Based on the much-loved kids’ picture book by Julia Donaldson, this design was developed along the main themes and ideas of the story.

Bougie Bug Barrel Motel

East London Independent School


Created by 8-20-year-old students at this Special Educational Needs school, this barrel includes a hoverfly breeding pond and a log mini-beast habitat incorporating bee hotels.

A Castle That Cares

Fairfield Park Lower School 


Nature’s beautiful pollination cycle is the focus: plants attract pollinators; pollinators help more plants to grow; then plants also boost our wellbeing; and we, in turn, nurture the plants, bees, butterflies and bugs.

Harmonious Harvest

Ferrars Junior School


On a theme of sustainability, the children chose pollinator-friendly plants that provide edible elements for other wildlife. The result: a harmonious haven for insects and birds.

High Rise Habitat

Hampton High Secondary School


Showcasing the different ways in which a space can support a wide range of wildlife, this design champions dead and decaying matter as a crucial supporter of biodiversity, in particular solitary bees and stag beetles.

A Loveliness of Ladybirds

Heath Farm School, Charing Heath


The students of this Social, Emotional and Mental Health School designed a ladybird paradise, providing all these creatures need to complete their lifecycle, while also attracting other pollinators and insects.

The Pollinator Tea Party

Knaphill Lower School


Children aged 4–7 borrowed themes from Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – in particular the Mad Hatter’s tea party – for this playful design that highlights the importance of flower power and catering for vital pollinators.

Lordship Farm’s Barrel of Biodiversity

Lordship Farm Eco Committee


Designed by Year 2 children, this is an eco-haven for insects and birds to shelter and feed. It’s made from 100% recycled and reclaimed materials and is an ideal spot for them to survive and thrive.

Bog Baby Barrel of Life

Malvern Way Infant School


This mini pond and bog garden creates an attractive natural habitat for amphibians, insects and water-loving plants, which, in turn, will play their part in the wider food chain.

Hedgehog Heaven

Meadow Park Academy


Designed by 7–8-year-olds, this hedgehog-friendly creation features a fence with a hedgehog arch to divide neighbouring gardens, long grass mixed with wildflowers for safe passage and a pond with a ramp to allow our prickly friends to climb out.

Grasshopper Green, Green Grass Garden

Northfields School Gardening Club


The Year 2 Gardening Club have a shared fascination for grasshoppers. They love seeing them in the school grounds and wanted to learn about their habitat and lifecycle by creating this brilliant Bug Barrel. At its heart is biodiversity, and saving grasshoppers and other bugs.

Life, Re-Life

Phoenix Primary Academy


Containing a small slice of ancient woodland, this barrel shows how growth comes from decay, underlining the importance of nature’s smallest, most established biomes.

Out of the Woods

Pipers Corner School


Taking inspiration from the nearby Chiltern Hills woodlands, pupils aged 7–11 have created a special bug house for the creatures that live in these magical ancient forests.

Butterfly Haven

Shawley Community Primary Academy Trust


Planted with marigolds, echinacea, cosmos and buddleia, this barrel contains a butterfly fruit feeding area, with recyclable plastic bottle butterflies decorating the design.

Mermaid of Hope

St Nicolas C of E Primary School, Downderry


Sitting atop a bug hotel, Mermaid of Hope is made of waste washed up on the beach near the school. She provides an airy home for selfseeded plants that spread along local cliffs, while the planting offers valuable pollen.

Our Little Urban Wildlife Garden

Stillness Infant School


A glorious miniature version of their muchloved school wildlife garden, it contains two trees, flowerbeds, wormery, bug hotel, log piles, pond and a mud kitchen. 


Over the past 50 years, over two thirds of the UK's insect, bird, mammal and amphibian population has been lost. This has had a dramatic effect on our biodiversity. To help your school grounds become more biodiverse, visit our Wild About Gardens page.