Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Town and city gardens need to be a lot greener
Urban gardeners should resist the temptation to install driveways and patios. Emily Beament reports
IN the rural West Country it can sometimes be a problem having too much garden to manage. But those unable to keep the grass mowed, the weeds pulled and the borders free from brambles and nettles can at least comfort themselves with the knowledge that they are doing the birds and the bees a favour – letting gardens go a bit wild and leaving overgrown areas for nature is recommended these days by conservationists and environmental campaigners.
In the towns and cities, however, where green space ought to be at a premium and where city dwellers need the calming influence of a patch of greenery, things are a long way from perfect.
New research shows that less than two thirds of garden space in Britain’s towns and cities is covered with greenery such as plants, lawns and trees.
The Office for National Statistics’ Data Science Campus and Ordnance Survey combined techniques to classify images with aerial imagery to test ways to identify the amount of green space in urban residential gardens.
Initial results estimate that 62 per cent of garden spaces are covered with vegetation in Great Britain, a finding the Royal Horticultural Society described as “disappointing” as
greenery cools cities, curbs flooding and helps wildlife. The work aims to give a more accurate report of green spaces than previous estimates which have assumed 100 per cent of their area is covered by vegetation rather than factoring in features such as patios and paths.
As part of the project, the team focused on Cardiff and Bristol and found that around 54 per cent of Cardiff ’s urban residential gardens were covered by greenery, compared to around 45 per cent of Bristol’s.
Tom Smith, managing director at the ONS Data Science Campus, said: “Through our work with Ordnance Survey we’ve developed a new tool to provide more accurate estimates of how much of our gardens are covered with vegetation than has previously been suggested.
“This tool is intended to be useful to policy makers when planning a wide range of different measures from flood risk through to estimating the country’s carbon footprint.
“Through our Data Science Campus we are looking at how new cutting edge techniques can help improve the way we look at data.
“These techniques will help with our mission to mobilise the power of data to help Britain make better decisions and improve lives.”
Hayley Monckton, from the RHS, said: “It’s disappointing that less than two-thirds of gardens are covered by vegetation, when green gardens are so very beneficial for our health, for wildlife and for the environment.
“Plants and gardens can help cool towns and cities and mitigate flooding – things we will see more of as our climate changes.”
The RHS has a “greening Great Britain” campaign which calls on people to plant and grow more plants in their own outside spaces and community areas.
“The trend to pave increases chances of flooding and means you miss out on all the benefits of plants, such as helping to reduce pollution and providing food for our pollinators.
“We can all make a positive difference one plant at a time,” she said.
Paul de Zylva, nature campaigner at Friends Of The Earth, said: “People’s gardens can be brilliant for wildlife but there is increasingly less space for nature than we might think. Covering gardens in artificial grass, concrete, and paving for parking and patios is bad news for nature, for soaking up flood water and for absorbing carbon. Fortunately, gardens also present a clear opportunity for people to help the planet as they are one of the few places where people have direct control.”
One of the many examples of city centre green spaces in the West Country can be found at Devon Wildlife Trust’s headquarters at Cricklepit Mill, alongisde the River Exe close to the centre of Exeter.
As well as the mill itself, which still operates using water power as it would have done from the days it was first established in the 13th century, the site includes gardens and a host of wildlife.
The Wildlife Trust reports: “For an urban site, the Mill has an extraordinary wealth of wildlife.
“Otters, kingfishers, egrets, and hedgehogs have all been spotted here.”