A handmade fossil, a small piece of the old Ferns and Fossils Glasshouse path. (Photo: Kevin Bannon)
The breaker attachment on the mini digger starts breaking through the thick paths, while the tropical plants of House 4 spectate through the glass. (Pictured: Marc Gilbert and Neil Watherston) (Photo: Kevin Bannon)
With most of the paths and the large water feature broken down, the digger works with the electric telehandler to pile the rubble into the centre for further breaking down into more manageable sizes. (Pictured: Marc Gilbert and Neil Watherston) (Photo: Kevin Bannon)
Excess soil was removed in the process of levelling the ground, while the fragile points around the edges of the glasshouse, such as heating banks and water points were dug out manually by hand. (Pictured: Neil Watherston) (Photo: Kevin Bannon)
Resembling real fossils, the intricate designs in the paths were created by pressing real tree fern fronds into the wet cement to create the iconic patterns. Removing the paths is the last step in dismantling the former plant display. Now, the glasshouse waits as a blank slate with huge potential to continue as part of the wider changes in other glasshouses and house a new public display of the important plant collections at RBGE. (Photo: Kevin Bannon)
A look back to 2022 at the lifting of Dicksonia antarctica currently potted in the Temperate Lands Glasshouse alongside the other tree ferns moved over the decant.(Pictured: Neil Watherston, Kevin Bannon and Kate Miller)(Photo: Hazel France)
Explore more Botanic Stories covering the Ferns and Fossils Glasshouse decant below.
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