NEWS IN BRIEF WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY ELMS RETURNING TO HISTORIC GREENWICH PARK

RHS partner garden

2022 announced

Nant y Bedd, a small naturefriendly garden within the Brecon Beacons National Park in Monmouthshire, Wales, has been voted overall winner in the Royal Horticultural Society Partner Garden of the Year Competition for 2022. Created by Sue and Ian Mabberley, it captured voters’ hearts with its tranquillity and natural elements that encompassed the competition’s ‘Feel Good’ theme. rhs.org.uk

Wakehust nature reserve closed

Experts at Wakehurst, Royal Botanic Garden Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, have been forced to close the Loder Valley Nature Reserve while a major felling operation to remove trees infected with ash dieback is carried out. Work is needed across the 150-acre haven of wetlands, meadows and woodlands to prevent the diseased trees falling on public paths. kew.org/wakehurst

ASLA calls for ‘zero emissions by 2040’

The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) has published its ASLA Climate Action Plan and Climate Action Field Guide. The documents set new goals and a pathway for landscape architects to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions in projects and increase carbon sequestration by 2040. Developed by a task force of five landscape architects and a 17-member Advisory Group, the plan outlines 71 action points to be taken by 2025. asla.org

AN £8 MILLION ROYAL PARKS restoration programme is underway, to restore London’s Greenwich Park to its 17thcentury heyday.

The phased project, masterplanned by Head of Landscape Jane Pelly, and project managed by Alice RoseHoile, includes the removal of damaged Turkey oaks that were planted in the 1970s to replace the original elms which had been wiped out by Dutch elm disease. Some damaged beech trees will also be taken out, but no trees planted before 1970 will be removed.

New plantings of native, more resilient, wildlife-friendly lime and elm trees will be put in, in keeping with the original 1660s planting plan used when Henry VIII’s hunting ground was transformed into a formal treescape that linked the River Thames to Blackheath Gate and beyond.

Years two and three will also involve landscape restoration of the parterre banks and giant grass steps (pictured) designed by 17th-century French landscape designer André Le Nôtre. A path that currently cuts across the original formal layout will be removed, and another will be widened.

Irrigation points connected to ground water will be installed and acid grassland habitats expanded to provide more foraging habitats for pollinators and birds. The work is being delivered through Greenwich Park Revealed and is due to be completed by March 2025. royalparks.org.uk

Study Finds Exeter Has Greenest Urban Centre

RESEARCHERS FROM the University of Sheffield have found that Exeter (pictured) in Devon has the greenest urban centre in Britain, while Glasgow ranks bottom with the least green infrastructure.

The researchers, led by Dr Paul Brindley, senior author of the work – Urbancentregreen metrics inGreat Britain:Ageospatialand socioecologicalstudy – looked at 68 urban centres that have a central business district and populations of less than 100,000 and compared them, using a range of measurements (trees, vegetation, and access to green spaces), to compile a comprehensive ranking of the greenness of urban infrastructures in England, Scotland and Wales.

Exeter, Islington, Bristol, Bournemouth and Cambridge top the list while Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Sheffield, Liverpool and Leeds make up the bottom five.

‘Sheffield is a spectacular city for green space, with the Peak District on its doorstep and more trees per person than any other city in Europe,’ comments Dr Brindley. ‘However, its city centre doesn’t rank highly in terms of greenness compared to other urban centres, perhaps due to Sheffield’s industrial heritage and how the city developed.’ org/plosone/

Anomalies such as this highlight the importance of the study, the first of its kind, says Dr Brindley, and he adds that there is a ‘vital need to identify green space inequalities, even in the least obvious places and [to] promote measures to address them.’ sheffield.ac.uk; journals.plos.

SINGLE TREES IN UK WORTH £3.8 BILLION TO ECONOMY

RESEARCH CARRIED OUT by Forest Research and Defra has revealed that individual trees planted in urban and rural settings are worth a total of £3.8 billion to the British economy.

The valuation is based on the critical role ‘single trees’ – making up almost a quarter of the trees currently growing in Great Britain – play in storing carbon, strengthening flood resilience, and reducing noise and air pollution. They also mitigate against climate change, cool cities in summer and improve health and wellbeing.

It is hoped that by quantifying the significant value of single trees, councils, land managers and local communities will be encouraged to plant more of them, contributing to wider Government efforts to treble planting rates in England, and achieve net zero by 2050.

Filippo Dester Msgd Returns To Rhs Chelsea

GARDEN CLUB LONDON’S senior landscape designer, Filippo Dester MSGD, has announced that he will be designing the studio’s second garden for estate agent Hamptons at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The garden, in the Sanctuary Gardens category, will be a contemporary space redolent with the look, feel and smell of the Mediterranean region. Its focus, says Filippo, will be an outdoor kitchen. A shady, alfresco dining space will be surrounded by scented shrubs, aromatic herbs and ornamental perennials, planting chosen for its biodiversity benefits and drought tolerance. gardenclublondon.co.uk