Get Your Garden Buzzing

Britain's beleaguered bees and other pollinating insects are set to benefit from a new Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) campaign. The charity is launching the “RHS Perfect for Pollinators” list to help gardeners select plants that will play a role in addressing the decline of certain insects. The RHS will be working with the trade to provide point-of-sale material and make the logo available for the trade to use.

The ‘RHS Perfect for Pollinators’ label was developed when writer and broadcaster Sarah Raven approached the charity with the innovative idea of flagging up to gardeners plants most suitable for pollinators. The RHS had been working on a research project looking at plants for bugs and was excited by Sarah’s idea that a label might get the public and trade more involved.

“Gardens are vital havens for pollinators because they tend to include a much great diversity of pollen and nectar sources available over a longer period than commercially managed agricultural land,” says Roger Williams, Head of Science RHS. “As the UK’s leading gardening charity this is the sort of initiative we should be involved in to help gardeners be more environmentally friendly. The list and the logo, we hope, will be a practical way to help gardeners really focus in on plants that are best for pollinating insects. We are really pleased to have the support of the Horticultural Trades Association and a real interest from garden centres across the country.”

Over the last 50 years a decline in many groups of insects has been noticed. These include some of the common butterflies, moths, hoverflies and bees. The reason for this is complex but part of the problem may be the reduction in the abundance of wild flowers in the countryside. Gardens with their variety of flowers are increasingly being seen as an important habitat where insects can find sources of nectar and pollen.

“The days of punnets of strawberries costing £50 is fast upon us,” says Sarah Raven. “Without insects busying themselves on our behalf pollinating fruit and vegetables, a healthy diet of ‘five a day’ will soon be gone.”

The RHS advises that there are a number of things gardeners can do to help insects. They suggest;

• Gardeners should consult the RHS Perfect for Pollinator list www.rhs.org.uk/plants when selecting plants
• Look out for the RHS Perfect for Pollinator logo in garden centres and nurseries
• Avoid plants with double or multi-petal flowers
• Aim to have plants in flower from early spring to late autumn
• Think about using British wild flowers as additions to planting schemes
• Observe the plants in your garden and plant more of those that attract insects

Source: Royal Horticultural Society

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“The M&G Garden” 2011

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The 2011 M&G Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011 was a modern take on the traditional kitchen garden and a garden that really spoke to me.

The M&G Garden 2011 proves the point that a vegetable/kitchen garden doe not have to be or need to be hidden away out of sight. On the contrary. It can become the garden.

“The M&G Garden” 2011 was designed by Bunny Guinness, who is a multi award-winning garden designer, landscape architect and journalist. It encapsulates a belief in sustainable excellence and, as said, is a modern take on a traditional kitchen garden. This is a garden which you can both live with and in and live from, combining the practical with the aesthetic and innovative garden design elements that can sustain and nurture the modern gardener.

The garden is a beautiful space in which to relax, as well as being a working plot to produce bountiful fruit, herbs, vegetables and cut flowers. It features raised beds built from willow and topped with cedar coping, which are planted out with vegetables and flowers for cutting.

Cabbages and beans mingle with clematis and roses, whilst lavender and other herbs ensure the garden smells sweet and fragrant. Large terracotta pots containing a variety of fruit trees are placed throughout the garden.

While very much traditional in spirit, the garden also embraces seriously innovative features including an elegant glass platform. This glass deck, which appears to float, a contemporary centrepiece to the garden, offers both a view of the garden and a sheltered space for people and plants below.

The garden is framed by a series of pleached trees, standing nearly three metres tall, which are trained against wire and ironwork that echo the balustrade design.

The M&G Garden demonstrates how a traditional approach is timeless, particularly when updated for a modern world.

While this may not be something that any of us more ordinary mortals can recreate in its entirety, simply for lack of funds, the idea, however, could be taken up and transplanted – pardon the pun – into a less expensive setting.

The “5 A DAY” garden at last year's Chelsea (or was it Hampton Court) Show was a smaller version of this planter raised bed design though, at that time, more or less solely a vegetable kitchen garden. But, anything along the lines of the size of the latter combined with the former should fit into most gardens and budgets.

You don't have to have the same kind of planters or the huge Italian terracotta pots. I am sure it can be recreated using much cheaper materials for almost the same effect, leaving out, maybe, the floating deck as well.

© 2011

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Gardening Matters

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2011 saw the launch of “Gardening Matters: Urban gardens”, a report by the Royal Horticultural Society, prepared by Dr. Tijana Blanusa (RHS) and Abigail Page (independent consultant).

The report highlights, in its eight pages, the immense value that (urban) gardens present for people and the environment.

I should think, though, that there is very little of that that really comes as a surprise to those of us involved with the environment and with gardens and gardening, whether on an amateur or a professional basis.

In the same way as do city trees, and hence they are so valuable, gardens moderate the temperatures and cool the urban environment. A town or city without trees, gardens and parks would be much hotter in summer and less balanced in its micro climate. We get a detailed rundown on how gardens work by way of moderating the urban climate on page three of the report.

Gardens, and that too has been a given to those of us who work with Nature, are an aid to the prevent flooding in the urban environment and page four of the report highlights that very well indeed.

When I look around my own neighborhood it is obvious why we have a problem with flash floods everywhere when it rains heavily. Most front gardens have been paved over between three quarters to completely to make parking spaces for the at least two cars per home, often even three or four. Back gardens too often are no more than ten percent of their former selves as people build decking and patios to create (large) outdoor “rooms”. All this contributes to a lack of soil capable of absorbing water and leading to run off.

The report “Gardening Matters: Urban gardens” is a very valuable piece of research and resource that has lot of good and important information for the urban gardener. Making it, therefore, available for downloading as a PDF document from the RHS website would be a very good idea.

© 2011

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RHS Chelsea 2011 – Visit Report

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

The end of May 2011 saw the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the prestigious annual event held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners.

Many a show garden, large and small, was in evidence once again and for me the ones that stood out were the M&G Garden and the Bulldog Forge Garden and we shall be looking at those gardens in more detail at another stage.

RHS Chelsea 2011 also saw the launch of the “Gardening Matters: urban gardens” report by the Royal Horticultural Society; a report that is worth a second a closer look and we shall do that at another time.

The “Miracle Gro'wers – Leaning Journey”, by Miracle Gro, the plant food people, in association with The Sun (newspaper) saw a constant stream of journalists coming and going on Monday, May 23 – the Press Day. This could, however, have been due to the fact that the Environment Secretary, Caroline Spellman, was due to put in an appearance and here she is with some of the children that have been responsible for the growing of the plants on display on the stand and many others.

A fair number of new products and plants saw their launch at RHS Chelsea 2011 and there were many interesting new products in the RHS Chelsea “Product of the Year” collection; a new category introduced this year. More on those at another time.

I must say that the time that I have had at RHS Chelsea 2011 just was not long enough to see everything that was worth seeing and I must ensure that in the future I will make at least free for this show. I am glad, therefore, that I have booked myself in for two days for this year's RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.

© 2011

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