We’ve seen hundreds of PR stunts over the years here at Secret London, but few are quite as ambitious (or pretty!) as the one that’s taken over Trafalgar Square today. From now until 8pm tonight (April 27), Trafalgar Square has been turned into a giant countryside meadow by Innocent Drinks, in partnership with wildlife expert Ray Mears. It’s to raise awareness of the brand’s new carbon neutral OJ and their commitment to land preservation, but also encourages Londoners to think about rewilding.
More than 6000 plants, flowers, and trees have turned Trafalgar Square into a bucolic meadow – well, maybe not 100% bucolic, since you can still see and hear the traffic – which aims to raise awareness of biodiversity in urban areas. True to the square’s identity, there’s even a lion made out of trailing plants and springtime flowers. A team of gardeners and horticulturists worked through the night to bring this verdant paradise to life, and their efforts look to have been well worth it!
The meadow allows concrete-weary Londoners the chance to engage in the natural world, and Innocent will also be giving away seed papers that visitors can plant at home and watch them sprout into a wildflower display. With land use and lack of green spaces in cities an increasingly prominent concern, and the climate crisis inviting us to think more carefully about the ways we engage with the natural world, it’s a timely arrival. Maybe it’ll help spark your own personal rewilding project?
Oh, and if anyone in charge of Trafalgar Square chances to read this: can we put on record our support for a permanent garden here please?
You can find out more about Innocent’s rewilding project here.