Green-fingered city dwellers can now enjoy the feeling of grass under their feet even in a high rise flat - with the creation of a living rug.
Lovers of the great outdoors can cultivate a green space in their living room that will provide them with their own freshly cut lawn - as long as they remember to water it.
The living carpet, created by designer Pia Wustenberg, will set gardeners back up to £1,000 a time.
The rugs begin life as a soft grey pillow - then as the seedlings begin to take hold, the grass grows through in a specially chosen design - curling flowers or spirals and, as her website says, bringing “the qualities of a living organism to an inanimate object.”
Pia, who was born in Germany but is now based in London, said: “I love the hustle and bustle of the inner city, but I really miss having a garden to sit in and care for.”
“That's how I got the idea for the garden rug. Moss and grass seeds are carefully sewn into the lining of the rug, and then you just need to water it.”
“The rugs are made from alpaca fibre, which is soft, but encourages the moss to grow.”
“It takes a lot of time and effort to stitch the moss onto the rug - and a full-size rug takes about 3 full days to make, and costs about £1,000.”