Trimmed branches that are usually discarded were given a second life at the ongoing Third Beijing Gardening Art Festival.

With innovative ideas and exquisite workmanship, 49 teams of gardeners from across the country turned garden wastes into artworks.

Weeping willow branches and reed poles were shaped like tornado. Wood chips and branches made into hedgehog and butterfly. And bark pieces were built into a volcano.

"We used pearl braches this time. Every year we trim many branches which can neither bear blossom nor fruit. To pearl farmers, they are wastes. We reused these branch wastes with the hope that they have a new artistic life," said Liu Hailong, leader of the Beijing design team who participated in the festival.

"This piece of work features a grown elephant with a baby elephant. The materials include pear branches, crabapple branches, and apple branches. We plant all kinds of vines and climbing plants here, which will bloom colorfully next spring. After visitors come here, they can relax and enjoy themselves. After a year, all these branches will be sent to a branch and leaf waste treatment plant and will be processed into fertilizer," said Wang Maochun, initiator of the Beijing Gardening Art Festival.

All the artworks will be displayed at the Beijing World Flower Garden and Urban Green Heart Forest Park till October 2021.