A MEMBER of the Royal family will be at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden Rosemoor next week.

Princess Alexandra will officially open the new teaching gardens which are part of the Peter Buckley Learning Centre at RHS Garden Rosemoor on May 9.

The Royal visit will start in the afternoon when she will meet a number of local civic dignitaries, including RHS president Elizabeth Banks.

Head of Rosemoor, Sally Charleton will lead the party through the main garden into the new teaching gardens where the Princess will have the opportunity to speak to many of the Rosemoor gardening team who have been involved in creating the inspirational new space.

Princess Alexandra will then unveil a plaque officially opening the new cob building and teaching gardens.

The land surrounding the new learning centre has been cultivated over recent months to provide additional opportunities for thousands more schoolchildren in the region to learn about sustainability, the environment, wildlife and plants.

The two acres of the newly developed teaching garden boasts the RHS's first forest garden — plants have been chosen as the best of their type for fruit, berry and nut cropping. As they establish it will become a self-sustaining planting with an understory of herbs and perennial vegetables.

An allotment area has been developed to aid community involvement with the art of vegetable growing. Surrounding the building, many plants suitable for wildlife have been planted, especially ones suitable for the dormouse population.

In addition to two large classrooms for formal teaching, the learning centre includes an innovative teaching terrace garden, with raised vegetable beds, a sensory garden and dipping ponds, enabling vital hands-on horticultural experience for both pupils and teachers. An indoor practical space and cooking area will be used to teach children how to prepare the food they learn to grow.

The centre has been designed to be eco-friendly utilising solar energy, rainwater harvesting and an efficient log burning boiler, using logs from the woodlands around Rosemoor, and allowing the building to be self-sufficient.