The first “multifaith” garden at the Chelsea Flower Show was opened yesterday with prayers said by Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Hindu leaders.

With a cross as a path at the centre, and the other religions “flowering” from Christianity, the colourful garden is evidence of a more ethical approach in the gardening world.

Conceived by the BBC presenter Susan Bowden-Pick-stock and the producer Canon Chris Bard, it was designed by students from Capel Manor College in Enfield, North London, a centre of garden design and horticulture. It is intended to show how faiths use plants and flowers as symbols and are linked through horticulture.

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, of the New North London Masorti synagogue, said: “It is a beautiful idea. But there is an assumption that the central image is the Cross. It makes an unspoken assumption about . . . the place of Christianity in the country.” He said this was an accurate assumption, and he was not intending to be critical.

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