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red oak 
Who: Lake Forest Garden Club
Lake Forest, Illinois USA
When: Tuesday, May 23 - Saturday, May 28
Designer: Catharina Malmberg-Snodgrass of
CMS Design Associates Ltd., London
Contractor: Mark Gregory, Landform Consultants Ltd., London
Intent: The ravine ecosystem found in the Great Lakes of North America inspired our garden of plants indigenous to the region. Formed by glacial retreat during the last ice age, ravines are a fragile legacy of past global warming and a reminder of the invaluable diversity of life on earth. Our garden is intended to inform and inspire the preservation and restoration of these natural treasures.
The RHS Chelsea Flower show offers a unique context wherein our American voices may be added to this global conversation as we participate in the celebration of ecology, horticulture, and sheer beauty that is Chelsea.
"Ravine Garden: Gift of the Glacier" is an interpretation of an undisturbed ravine on the shores of Lake Michigan, one of the American Great Lakes along the border of the United States and Canada. A ravine ecosystem is an eloquent example of global environmental concerns contained in one small, rare microcosm. Conservation begins at home. As we work to protect and restore our natural treasures, it is our hope to demonstrate the depth of our commitment to the natural order.
The ravines near Lake Michigan were created by the glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age. Their steep inclines, cut by glaciers, are reminders of the massive changes to the landscape arising from climate change. A distinctive and unusually beautiful microcosm thrives in ravines; one which is maintained by a delicate balance and therefore not unlike the delicacy of the planet's whole ecosystem.
To preserve this threatened part of our stunning natural legacy requires vigilance of the pristine water and cool temperatures upon which plants supported by ravines depend. Those of us who live around the ravines have the added responsibility to care for the quality of the water flowing into Lake Michigan, which, along with the other four American Great Lakes, contain 18 percent of the earth's fresh surface water.
Our garden of plants indigenous to the American Midwest expresses our deep and abiding respect for the irreplaceable diversity of life on earth, and offers our message of local conservation to an international audience.
CO-CHAIRMEN
Alicia Crawford
Margaret Marshall
Anne Scott
Why did you decide to come to Chelsea?
Our garden club as a member of The Garden Club of America has a tradition of sponsoring and entering flower shows. The RHS Chelsea Flower Show holds great interest to our members and the idea to enter a garden was compelling. Part of the mission of the Lake Forest Garden Club is “To promote public interest in the conservation of natural resources and the protection of native plants.” We hope that our Ravine Garden fulfills that mission in a dramatic and global way.
How did you select your designers?
In the spring of 2005 Catharina Malmberg-Snodgrass, a friend of one of our members, came to speak to our club about her gold medal experience at Chelsea in 2001. When we thought we would try to enter Chelsea, she was the natural choice.
Why did you decide to do a ravine garden?
We explored many possibilities and decided to focus on something American, something mid-western, something local and unique. And so the Ravine Garden was born.
How large is your garden?
Our Show Garden measures 11 x 14 meters.
Why do you call it “Gift of the Glacier?”
Our unique ecology, the Great Lakes system and its ravine-lined shoreline, was created by glacial retreat at the end of the last ice age. The fragile beauty of this ecosystem is a gift of nature. Our sharing this gift with the world at Chelsea brings our message that local conservation has a global impact.
What is a Council Ring and why did you include it in your garden?
A Council Ring is a very familiar feature in gardens in our community as it was widely used by landscape architect, Jens Jensen, to incorporate the human element in his gardens. It is based on Native American influences and is intended as a gathering place where no one occupies a seat of honor and all people meet as equals. It is a symbol of democracy.
What will happen to the garden when Chelsea is over?
It is our hope that the garden will stay in England; reconstructed in its entirety at a school or park.