Adopt a flower bed
This project is designed to introduce a new way of maintaining flower beds around the borough in a bid to make the borough a cleaner and greener place to live and work and contribute to addressing the effects of climate change.
More than a million species in the world are in danger from a warmer planet - including many of the UK’s birds and other creatures expected to lose feeding and breeding grounds - as warmer, drier summers and wetter, stormier winters become more common.
Experts have long warned that nature reserves will not help protect threatened species because habitats will shift with the weather. Now they are appealing to gardeners and anyone else that can help.
Every garden or planted area is a habitat for wildlife. Global warming is already causing problems for wildlife as the plants, flowers and insects that many animals and birds feed on and nest in are shifting their habitat and changing breeding patterns.
Flowers and plants are a key element of our countryside, but they also have a major part to play in urban areas. Flowers and plants in parks and other open spaces, or lining the sides of our streets, railways and rivers are of great importance to people, particularly in residential areas.They can also provide valuable habitats and food sources for wildlife and improve the air we breathe.
The aim of the scheme is to encourage local faith groups, girl guides/scout groups, or other groups and schools to help us replant and maintain flower beds around the borough. Adopt a flower bed scheme is part of our climate change programme: it will support the local community, and take practical steps to tackle global warming.
By replanting more flower beds it will help to address some of the problems of climate change while bringing benefits to local communities and conserving biodiversity. Planting flowers can help slow down climate change because plants absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. When plants “breathe” in, they absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Research has shown though, that not only do plants absorb carbon dioxide, they can also absorb other pollutants from the air, such as smoke and chemical fumes given off by plastics and car fumes etc. Plants play an important part in reducing the amount of CO2 released into the environment so by planting more flowers it will help manage these increasing levels.
Objectives of the project
The objective of the project is to introduce a new and efficient way of planting flower beds in the borough. This will be done by seeking local community groups and faith groups to adopt flower beds that are in need of planting and maintenance.
- Priority will be given to flower beds that are not currently planted or are prone to littering.
- Areas around factories and industrial estates will also be looked at.
- Parks and playgrounds will also be considered to see if more flowers can be planted to create a more pleasant area and also attract wildlife.
- This will all act as a positive step towards addressing the issues of climate change and a step toward improving local collaboration and partnership.
How it will work?
The scope of the project is to get local community groups to adopt and maintain flower beds in the borough. They will be asked to plant and maintain one flower bed each for the year.
This will make the borough a safer, cleaner and greener environment for all the residents, workers and wildlife and do a small bit to help the battle of climate change.
The Council will supply the necessary tools as a gift for agreeing to adopt the flower beds and will also provide some of the plants. The voluntary groups will be responsible for planting, weeding, litter picking and other general maintenance of their adopted flower bed. This will make a real difference to the attractiveness of an area, which is an important factor in attracting inward investment, and help reduce the affects of climate change.
Each adopted flower bed will have a plaque put up with the organisations name and details on it, highlighting that they have adopted the bed and maintain it.
With the help of Green Spaces consultants we will advise the organisations on the best plants and flowers for their bed and how to plant and maintain them.
Further information
For further information on the scheme or how to adopt a flower bed please contact:
Corinne Hibberd, Initiatives Manager
Phone: 020 8496 3000
Email: corinne.hibberd@walthamforest.gov.uk
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