Researchers from East Malling have won a Chelsea Flower Show medal with their astonishing display of a fully grown excavated apple tree, complete with the entire root system.

East Malling Research, where experts work to improve global fruit production, secured a prestigious silver gilt flora medal with the unusual exhibit, entitled The Fruit of the Tree.

The exhibit demonstrates the role that rootstocks play in controlling the size and improving the productivity of fruit trees, a subject close to the heart of Kent's many fruit farms. A rootstock is a plant with a root system, which a cutting or bud can be grafted to and is especially important in successful fruit production.

Commenting on the medal, Chairman of research funder East Malling Trust, Will Sibley said: “The scientific work undertaken over the last century at EMR, and in particular its work on rootstocks, has transformed the productivity of the world’s fruit industry.

“At a time when we need to make the public more aware of the role scientific research plays in the food they eat, what better way to demonstrate the positive connection than by showing them how an apple tree actually functions.”

During the show, EMR's Chief Executive, Professor Peter Gregory announced the award of a major grant from the government’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. The grant will fund the continued root research by using EMR’s unique underground laboratory, which will now be re-equipped to study root growth of modern apple trees and the flow of carbon into the soils.

Highlighting the importance of the grant, he said: "There is a great deal of important science needed if we are to address the country’s future food security.”

EMR’s research into rootstocks, including the well-known M9 and M26 rootstocks, has transformed the way that fruit trees are grown in gardens and commercial orchards around the world. The M9 and M26, which produce semi-dwarf trees, are now two of the most widely grown rootstocks in the world.

East Malling Research and the Chelsea Flower Show both celebrate their centenary this year.

More Kent success at Chelsea