Ecologically diverse front gardens - what we need and how we might get there

 

 

As a child living in Kingsbury in the 1950s I was fond of the suburban front gardens of Crundale Avenue and Valley Drive - full of shrubs, flowers and the occasional specimen tree. Now many of those have been converted into parking lots..

The CPRE Front Gardens Network seeks to  stop the decline of the front garden and the biodiversity they encouraged. In a September online meeting Rosie Whicheloe, in an Independent Ecologiss capacity,  gave a stimulating  presentation on how to reverse, enhance or preserve front gardens. It began by demonstrating how the front gardens between Fryent Country Park and the Welsh Harp could be mapped as a project starting point.

Thanks to the CPRE, Front Gardens Network and Rosie for permission to post the video here. 

The London Front Gardens Network promotes de-paving and re-greening of front gardens by enabling people working in this area to exchange information and ideas, amplify the voices of individuals, and promote joint working where it can increase impact. Ultimately the aim is to re-establish important wildlife habitat; reduce river pollution and flooding caused by excessive rainwater run-off; reduce the urban heat island effect caused by paved surfaces; and make streets more pleasant to encourage walking and to promote wellbeing.

 

Suburban street in Jack Rosenthal's 'Ptang, yang, Kipperbang' (1982)

 

The UK’s disappearing gardens Most recently, in October, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) published The State of Gardening, along with first-time mapping of the UK’s domestic, public and private gardens which finds that: “Just 0.15% of domestic garden is artificial lawn but this still accounts for 7.5million m2 while artificial grass across all cultivated green space stands at 18million m2 - more than six times the size of the City of London.” “More than a third (35%) of domestic gardens comprises lawn, with 25.8% under trees and 11% as flower beds.” “42% of domestic garden space is paved over (55% of front garden space and 36% of back garden space)”  As we know, the loss of gardens adds to rising flood risk and health-harm from higher temperatures i.e. not just in official ‘heatwaves’, and reduces the role of gardens, soils and plants in supporting wild species, storing carbon, and capturing some air pollutants.   For more, see pages 12 and 13 of the report:    The RHS is calling for: Policymakers to guarantee “Space to Grow” in all housing and urban planning, so every household has access to a garden. Homeowners to consider robust planting and permeable paving for front garden driveways to help mitigate flood risk and promote the cooling potential of gardens as well as support biodiversity. Local councils to ensure diversity in tree planting, prioritising those species that will respond best to climate change. Developers to design gardens with water channelling, capture and storage facilities to help future proof them.