Discover the Waverley Dye Garden

Published: 29/09/2023

Have you been down to the natural dye garden nestled in our City Campus?

Last winter, technical colleagues and students from the Nottingham School of Art & Design turned a pocket of empty space outside of the Waverley building into a sustainable natural dye garden. With sustainability at the heart of the project, they used recycled materials to build the raised beds; and the first plants were planted in early spring 2023.

The garden is an organic, chemical-free and self-sustained area for growing plants, which can then be harvested and used to make natural dyes for student projects and practical teaching.

The idea centres on the need for more sustainable fashion and how textile dyes could have a lower environmental impact. These natural dyes benefit from being non-toxic, renewable and biodegradable, and they require less water to produce.

Some of the plants that are growing include chamomile, woad, echinacea and corn flowers. The beds contain QR codes which you can scan for more information about the plants and even recipes.

The school hopes to expand the garden over time to include more beds and further species of plants.

All students are welcome to visit the space to enhance their learning and use it as an outside space to visit for a break. You can follow the garden on Instagram and contact naturaldyegardenstaff@ntu.ac.uk to get involved.