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www.indexdigital.co.uk VALUING OUR OPEN SPACES


We all know that green spaces have high value in terms of public health and happiness. But with spending on public parks reducing year on year, it’s not painting a pretty picture for these valuable places, which, for some, represent the main opportunity for play and exercise. It’s not all bad news, however. New ways of generating income are constantly being created and there is a lot more support from members of the public and private enterprise, many of whom want to help to improve our public parks. The answer, it seems, is collaborative action. The problem of reduced funding is not limited to city and town parks – National Parks have lost millions of pounds of Government funding in the past fi ve years, including the newest national park of all – the South Downs, which has seen funding fall from £11.4 million to £9.8 million. Fortunately, some special places in the


South East are at the receiving end of positive action, thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund: • Romney Marsh Landscape Partnership has secured a £1.76 million grant in order


GARDENING


St Thomas Becket Fairfi eld Romney Marsh © Ray Lewis & Heritage Lottery Fund


to restore and protect habitats and species. It also aims to reconnect people with the landscape. The scheme covers 242sq km of low-lying coastal land near Winchelsea, Rye, Hythe and the shingle ridges of Dungeness, the latter of which supports more than 600 plant species.


• The Old Chalk New Downs project will improve, restore and reconnect threatened chalk grassland habitats in and around the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural


Beauty (AONB). Following a grant of £1.4 million, the four-year project will cover almost 10,000 hectares from Kemsing Down to Detling Hill. • The Guardian of the Deep grant of £446,100 is a three-year project which aims to engage communities, businesses and visitors in the protection of marine habitats. Practically the entire Kent coast falls within a Marine Protected Area and it will feature 11 Marine Conservation Zones by 2018.


4 THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS MONTH


1. Get ready for the warm weather by organising a seating area in the sunniest part of your garden. There’s time to lay paving, place furniture and create somewhere special before the season runs away with you. 2. Dig in compost, green waste or well-rotted manure into your vegetable beds. 3. Plant potatoes outdoors this month – Easter is the traditional time. 4. Begin mowing your lawn regularly, if you haven’t already started to do so. Little and often makes for a healthy grass sward.


Spring garden


on show With more than 80 magnolias (in 52 different types) Great Comp Garden at Platt, near Sevenoaks, has built up an enviable reputation of being one of the fi nest spring gardens in Kent. Alongside the magnifi cent magnolias, annually the garden provides a beautiful spring display of bulbs, azaleas and rhododendrons, making it a must- visit at this time of year. And there’s even more reason to visit this month – as on Sunday 9th April Great Comp is hosting its Spring Fling plant fair, which promises to be a treat with a wonderful display of rare and special plants, and multi-award winning independent nurseries from Kent, Sussex and Essex exhibiting within the grounds. During the Spring Fling a rare


magnolia tree will be planted – the new hybrid ‘Kevin Hughes’ was raised by John Gallagher, a highly respected


plantsman, and Kevin, a nurseryman from Wiltshire, is gifting the magnolia tree to Great Comp Garden. William Dyson, Curator at Great Comp, said: “We are really looking forward to welcoming exhibitors like Kevin Hughes who is well known in the horticultural world as a magnolia specialist and somewhat of a magnolia breeding genius!”


The INDEX magazine www.indexdigital.co.uk 119


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