Workshop Review 2016
Palmstead Soft Landscape Workshop 2016 – The Findings
“What have plants ever done for us”
We held a hugely successful workshop day in September with over 150 delegates from all sectors of the landscape profession attending. Humanity relies completely on flora and biodiversity, however with the population in towns and cities growing exponentially we have become disconnected with the natural world. Landscape professionals are the people who can make a difference and make humanity reconnect with its natural roots.
To view / download a report of the workshop day please click here
All the speakers brought a relevant dimension and perspective to the subject – you can see their presentations below.
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Nick Coslett – Marketing Manager at Palmstead – Introduction and setting the scene
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Click here for presentation
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Dr. Mark Spencer - Forensic Botanist
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Click here for presentation
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Shenagh Hume & Jackie Herald – The Unintended Consequences of Planting
Click here for presentation
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Dr. Tijana Blanusa – RHS Senior Scientist at Reading University
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Click here for presentation
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Anne Jaluzot - Urban Greening Consultant and Urban Planner - Air Conditioning a City
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Click here for presentation
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Raoul Curtis-Machin – Head of Horticulture HTA – Building Biosecurity
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Click here for presentation
The speakers included or referenced the following documents and links in their talks:
Dr. Mark Spencer - Created Environments, Biodiversity and Science – Information
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Angiosperm phylogeny website - http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/Research/APweb/
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This is a very technical resource primarily dealing with the evolution of flowering plants. It also has an enormous amount of information relating to topics such as pollination, ecology and biochemistry.
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GB Non-native Species Secretariat - http://www.nonnativespecies.org/home/index.cfm
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An excellent site to start with when trying to find information on non-native species in Great Britain, it is also of relevance to Ireland and the Continent.
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The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) – http://bsbi.org/
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The leading organisation when it comes to knowledge of the wild (both native and non-native) flora of these islands. The Distributional Database (DDB) - http://bsbidb.org.uk/ is an excellent resource for finding detailed data on wild plant distribution.
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For information on historic botany and plant nomenclature, try:
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The Linnean Society of London - https://www.linnean.org/specimen-collections
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The Natural History Museum’s Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/linnaean-typification/ and links to historic herbariums within.
Dr Mark A. Spencer
Scientific Associate, Natural History Museum
Hon. Botany Curator, Linnean Society of London
Forensic Botany Consultant
E-mail: hotfungus@hotmail.com
Twitter: fungi_flowers
Shenagh Hume & Jackie Herald – Unintended Consequences of Planting – Pollen & Hayfever
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Urban green zones and related pollen allergy: A review. Some guidelines for designing spaces with low allergy impact.
Paloma Cari˜nanos, Manuel Casares-Porcel, Department of Botany, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Granada, Spain. Landscape and Urban Planning 101 (2011) 205–214
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“A thick, healthy, regularly mowed lawn makes an excellent trap for pollen that comes from nearby trees or shrubs. When this pollen lands on the lawn, it eventually gravitates down below the surface of the grass, and effectively is taken out of circulation”.
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Peter Prakke - http://healthyschoolyards.org + http://www.safegardening.org
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The Allergy Fighting Garden – OPAL scale. Thomas Ogren - http://www.safegardening.org/opals.html
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Shenagh Hume Talking point article SGD - Click here
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World Allergy focus on climate change effects - Click here
Dr Tijana Blanusa - Importance of plant choice to maximise the environmental benefits in cities
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Cameron and Blanusa, 2016, Annals of Botany
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http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/07/19/aob.mcw129.abstract
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https://www.rhs.org.uk/communities/pdf/Greener-Streets/rhs-front-garden-guide
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Cooling, pollutant trapping, rainfall capture
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Blanusa T, Vaz Monteiro MM, Kemp S, Cameron RWF (2016) Planting choices for retrofitted green roofs to increase the delivery of ecosystem services, In: Green roof retrofit: Building urban resilience (Eds. S. Wilkinson, T. Dixon), Wiley, Oxford
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Cooling
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Vaz Monteiro MM, Blanusa T, Verhoef A, Hadley P, Cameron RWF (2016) Relative importance of transpiration rate and leaf morphological traits for the regulation of leaf temperature. Australian Journal of Botany, 64, 32-44
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Blanusa T et al. (2013) Alternatives to Sedum on green roofs: Can broad leaf perennial plants offer better 'cooling service'? Building and Environment, 59, 99-106
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Pollutant trapping
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Blanusa T, Fantozzi F, Monaci F, Bargagli R (2015) Leaf trapping and retention of particles by holm oak and other common tree species in Mediterranean urban environments. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 14, 1095-1101
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Urban-air-quality-report-Woodland Trust 2012 – Click here
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Woodland Trust-residential-developments and trees – Click here
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World Allergy focus on climate change effects – Click here
Anne Jaluzot – Urban Greening Consultant – Air Conditioning a City
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TDAG website: www.tdag.org.uk
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Join and support TDAG: http://www.tdag.org.uk/about-tdag.html
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Download the two most recent TDAG publications:
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Trees in Hard Landscapes: A Guide for Delivery (2014)
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Explores the practical challenges and solutions to integrating trees in 21st century streets, civic spaces and surface car parks, detailing process, design and technical options. Will be of particular interest to highway engineers, public realm professionals and tree specialists.
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Trees in the Townscape: A Guide for Decision Makers (2012)
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12 principles of best practice for all those involved in local decision making to ensure that our 21st century towns and cities are underpinned by a 21st century approach to urban trees, for maximum economic, social and environmental returns.
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Download the English translation of the Greater Lyon Authority Tree Charter
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The Charter was designed by the Greater Lyon Authority as a partnership-building tool to enhance the long-term management of trees across France's third largest city. It offers a set of common principles, together with a powerful rationale for action and a rich set of ideas for implementation for wide ranging audiences. So far, over 100 local and national stakeholders (including Greater Lyon's 59 boroughs, utility companies, the French equivalent of the UK's Landscape Institute, some tree nurseries, etc.) have signed the Charter, committing themselves to adhere to its Principles and to develop their own action plan for implementation. Both the approach and the recommendations featured in the Greater Lyon Tree Charter are highly relevant and directly applicable to the management of trees in towns and cities on this side of the Channel!
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SE GILL, JF HANDLEY, AR ENNOS and S PAULETTE (2007). Adapting Cities for Climate Change: The Role of the Green Infrastructure, Built Environment 33 (1), 115-133
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Modelling conducted by Manchester University suggests that a 10% increase in green cover across Greater Manchester's built-up areas would keep surface temperatures at a 1961-1990 baseline level up until the 2080s high emissions scenario. The green cover increase (and the associated cooling effect) would reduce urban surface temperatures by up to 4 degrees Celsius, a drop which would overcome temperature rises caused by global warming over the next 70 years (because it is equivalent to the average predicted rise through global warming by the 2080s under the UKCP 2009 high emission scenario).
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Full copy of the paper can be downloaded at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/sites/default/files/Gill_Adapting_Cities.pdf
Raoul Curtis-Machin – HTA – Building Biosecurity
Relevant links: