Pioneering plans are under way in Canning Town for a garden made from recycled materials that waters itself, making it the UK’s first “eco-garden”.

Pioneering plans are under way in Canning Town for a garden made from recycled materials that waters itself, making it the UK’s first “eco-garden”.

The ultimate environmentally-friendly landscaped water garden aims to offset the carbon emissions created building the Vermillion flats in Canning Town.

Designed by Churchman Landscape, the Rathbone Market garden will feature a pond, lawn and herbaceous borders constructed from renewable hardwood timber.

Plants will be carefully selected to suit the feeding and nesting habitats of the bird species around the River Lea and the Thames and it will even have multi-level roof scapes made using the crushed brick from buildings were demolished on the site.

Lead landscape architect Andrew Thornhill said: “From the upper roofs that support the foraging habitats of the locally protected Black Red Start, to the reeds and marginals edging the pond, we’ve researched each habitat and believe these gardens are the first of their kind in the UK.”

The garden will even look after itself as it will be linked up to the roofs of the surrounding buildings so that it can collect the rainwater, so it can be filtered down to aquatic plants, and aerate the three fountains where it will then be circulated by a serpentine rill back into the pond.

Sales and marketing director for the development David Caught added: “The eco-garden at Vermilion will be a place for residents to come to relax, away from the hustle and bustle of East London life.

“It’s very unusual for a residential scheme, just ten minutes from Canary Wharf, to have such a large green space and we’re expecting it to be extremely popular.”