Dr Sam Ramsden of the Flood Innovation Centre introduces a successful trip that brought together community gardening groups from Hull and East Riding with RHS Wisley researchers.
It was really great to see the gardening groups and RHS Wisley researchers shared knowledge & experience on the ecosystem services provided by different plants and trees, plus the types of horticulture suitable for gardens prone to flooding. The RHS Wisley researchers were also really interested to hear more about the different social aims of the groups from Hull. We also learned how RHS Wisley’s ongoing research feeds into the RHS online tools to help gardeners including its Plant finder & selector, which suggests plants based on garden types. There was an interesting exchange on the use of native species with the gardening groups in Hull being particularly focused native species whereas this is less of a focus for the researchers at Wisley – one to watch.
The visit came about after I read an article in the Guardian about RHS Wisley’s research into ‘Super Plants’ with qualities enabling them to absorb roadside pollution or reduce flooding. I came into contact with Dr Tijana Blanusa who was really helpful in arranging the visit, although she did not like the title ‘Super Plants’. The Flood Innovation Centre supported the activity as part of its expanded support to charities and community groups. We took down six different groups, including representatives of Down to Earth, Mires Beck, Rooted in Hull, Susdrainable, EMS and Down to Earth. The Flood Innovation Centre wish to use the visit as a catalyst to bring together gardening groups that want to help people affected by flooding. It is also hoped that RHS Wisley scientists will come and visit us in Hull – they certainly seemed interested in the stories from Hull.
To be honest, we also really enjoyed visiting the gardens for a couple of hours at the end of the trip!
Thanks to RHS Wisley researchers, Dr Mark Gush – HoD Environmental Horticulture, Dr Tijana Blanusa – RHS Principal Horticultural Scientist & Dr Elisabeth Larsen – tree research fellow for kindly hosting our visit.
The Flood Innovation Centre has recently expanded its range of services to include support for charities, community groups and community interest companies. If you would like to know more, please contact Dr Sam Ramsden.