INDEX gardening
How green is your garden?
THE HEAT IS RISING on the sustainability debate, and anyone remotely interested in gardens will already be aware of the complexities that encompass green issues. Eco gardeners come in many shapes and forms, but among them are the metaphorical ‘butterflies’ who flit
delightfully from one scented flower to the next, dabbling in green ideas providing they are fringed with pretty pink. There are ‘caterpillars’ who take a few bites from various different green menus until they find something safe and acceptable, then there are the – largely unsung – working eco ‘worms’, who steadfastly toil beneath the ground, expecting no adulation and determined to do their best, whatever the climate. No garden can ever have too many worms, and the Garden of England welcomes every one. But where exactly are we with the sustainability programme in the UK, and what could we each
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Where better to promote the Eco message than in your own garden? Caroline Knight looks at simple ways to keep it literally and metaphorically ‘green’
be doing to help within our own particular gardens?
Thanks to growing awareness of climate change and the plight of the planet through worldwide debates such as the Earth Summit, which resulted in the highly publicised Agenda 21, the UK has embraced the adoption of tough targets, such as use of biofuels, renewable energy and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, together with many more sustainability ideals. Despite the recession, these still occupy a position high on the world agenda and there are many government incentives to encourage householders to join the apolitical ‘clean-up’ party. Take our local agricultural shows, for example. The Kent Show, South of England Show
and Edenbridge & Oxted Show played host to entire ‘Eco Villages’ full of south-facing roofs both large and small with hoards of solar-PV-panel salespeople on hand and eager to get up close and personal. It appears that many potential customers, although liking the ideal of generating their very own solar power and benefiting from government incentives of cash (which ultimately pays for the installation and subsequently brings profit) are now finding solar-panel salesman have a reputation for being every bit as pushy as double-glazing salespeople were found to be in the 1980s and ‘90s. But, sales ethics aside, would these panels enhance your garden
aesthetically? The answer has to
be a negative. Wind turbines are another matter – they might be a tad noisy but the vertical axis variety are, I believe, rather beautiful. But returning to roofs, there
is a perfectly feasible and highly attractive method of becoming literally greener via the installation of a green roof, and this system seemed to be noticeably absent at any of the aforementioned shows. A green roof can be used upon a suitably sturdy garden shed, summerhouse, garage or indeed on your house itself. It can be planted with sedum or a whole variety of grasses and wild flowers, which come in seed/plug or planted mat form to suit almost every setting. Not only does the green-roof system offer biodiversity by providing nectar and habitats for many insects and food for birds, it also reduces waste-water run- off, which in turn saves the ever- increasing flood of water lost to drains. A green roof or two teamed with a few strategically-
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The INDEX magazine september 2011
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