The ‘Wallace Line’ garden is a formal central canal garden with a twist. From 1854-1862 the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace travelled the Malay Archipelago collecting plants and animals for scientific research. Wallace developed a theory of Natural Selection at the same time as Charles Darwin.
He also hypothesised about an imaginary line between otherwise close islands which seemed to feature completely different species of plants and animals. The Wallace Line Garden recreates a representation of this line in the long pool and features a Jungle style planting on one side of the line and Savannah / Desert style on the other. We now know the Wallace Line is a result of Plate Tectonics bringing together areas on which Asian and Australasian species had developed separately.
A relaxing bench gives a contemplative view down the pond to a bust of Wallace. The garden shows how you can combine two distinct styles of planting in one garden but also makes the point that once you have crossed the line from one eco system to another, there is no going back.
