I was pleased this week to see that work is progressing well on what perhaps is the RSPB’s most ambitious project to date to make a garden fit for wildlife.We’ve previously done a couple of show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show, and we’ve got the gardens at The Lodge, Saltholme, Rainham Marshes and some other reserves, but this will be a standalone, free-entry public garden in the heart of the Suffolk countryside.This is the bit of the world made famous by John Constable. He painted many canvases in the area, including of course the Haywain. And the RSPB was fortunate a few years ago to have been gifted the old Tea Gardens just upstream next to Flatford Mill (left - gorgeous old photo of the Tea Gardens in their heyday).The site is about two-thirds of a hectare (swoon!), which will be transformed by project team Rick Vonk, Jane Warren, Shirley Boyle and volunteers into a demonstration garden, to a design by Alex Johnson and Catherine Heatherington. With wonderful funding support from many sources, it will showcase all the ideas from our Homes for Wildlife scheme.The photo (right) shows Rick and Shirley checking the lie of the land this winter on some of their (almost) blank canvas. I predict a very busy few months for the team, but they hope to open the newly created garden in May.It will of course take a few years to mature, but then that’s half the fun! I’ve had a sneak preview of the plans, and offered a little advice, but I haven’t been to see the site yet. One definitely for the diary for late spring, and hopefully regularly thereafter.I’ll keep you updated as things progress - and do check out Flatford's own page on the RSPB website here.