A SELF-STYLED Jedi gardener is swapping his lightsaber for a trowel in his quest to see if plants can be grown on Mars.

Jonathan Ward, nicknamed the Ginger Jedi, is helping to test the science behind plant life in space after years of taking on weird and whacky gardening projects.

The 44-year-old from Littlehampton has landed at The Chelsea Flower Show where he has designed ways of growing plants for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Campaign for School Gardening stand.

The display precedes a project due to be rolled out across 10,000 schools later this year where they will be asked to grow rocket seeds and compare their growth to those tended by an astronaut heading to Mars in the International Space Station in November.

He said: “I do all the projects that people think are a bit strange like growing green walls and green roofs. I am fascinated to find out about how plants can survive in space and I’m wonderfully delighted to have been asked to design this display and take part in the project.”

Mr Ward’s interest in gardening flourished at school and he now has 28 years experience in the industry. He also takes professional botanical pictures for plant labels and spends his life attending gardening shows around the world.

He said: “There is a myth that gardening is something that people who don’t do well at school do. That is not true. I want to dispel that myth and also think gardening and learning about plants should be introduced from a much younger age. I want to get more and more people into the horticulture industry.”

Mr Ward, the ‘Ginger One,’ is a also member of the Chartered Institute Of Horticulture, Garden Writers Association in America, Garden Media Guild and the Professional Garden Photographers’ Association and the Royal Horticultural Society, and is an active member of the RHS Plant Trials Committee.

The show is open from Tuesday until Saturday.

Background

THE Jedi is a fictional organisation and involves the main protagonists in the fictional Star Wars film universe, whose origins dates back to circa 25,000 BBY (Before Battle of Yavin; the destruction of the first Death Star).

The Jedi Order mostly consists of polymaths: teachers, philosophers, scientists, diplomats and warriors, who value knowledge and wisdom above nationality.

By serving others, the Jedi give of themselves through acts of charity, citizenship, volunteering, and good deeds.

Their traditional weapon is the lightsaber, a device which generates a blade-like controlled plasma flow. The fictional organisation has inspired a new religious movement in reality called Jediism.