Environment - Green Roofing

Angela Lambert of QLawns, & Enviromat on the benefits 'green roofing' can bring to your garden and to the environment.

 

Green Roofing using sedum matting products such as Enviromat from Q Lawns is a relatively new concept for the landscaping industry in the UK. Other European countries have been using sedum matting and enjoying the benefits for some years now however, Britain is catching up! Green roofs appear most years at Hampton Court and Chelsea and celebrity gardeners frequently make reference to roof planting.

 

Sedum matting can be used for vast number of different gardening structures and projects. A green roof on top of a garden structure or a surrounding of sedum matting to disguise a pond liner is the perfect, low maintenance way to bring vibrancy and wildlife into your garden.  Enviromat sedum matting consists of low growing, drought tolerant sedum plants, grown on to geo-textile matting for versatility and strength.  It is delivered to site with approximately 95% plant coverage and simply needs to be unrolled (like turf) and fixed onto a prepared surface to create an instant garden.

Enviromat is low maintenance, it doesn’t need mowing or trimming and only needs feeding once or twice a year with fertiliser, perfect for clients who require easy to maintain gardens and ideal for larger sites such as central reservations on dual carriageways where access is difficult. Enviromat looks fantastic all year consisting as it does of a random mix of evergreen sedum species that flower from early Spring to late Autumn and then in the winter it can go a beautiful blush red colour bringing all year round interest to the area.

 

“Sedums are ideal plants for the busy person who would like to transform a piece of land into an attractive landscape feature with a minimum of effort and very low maintenance requirements."

Professor Ray Stephenson

 

Used on the roof, Sedum Matting brings with it a range of advantages including insulation against heat and cold, protection against UV light – thus doubling the life of the waterproofing, aesthetics, increased biodiversity and the knowledge that bringing green plants to an otherwise barren area is helping to improve air quality and combat the effects of global warming.

 

Q Lawns have published a simple guide to creating a green roof using Enviromat, which outlines the criteria that the building needs to meet before successfully installing the sedum matting.  Weight bearing capacity, drainage, the amount of sunlight, the slope of the roof are all factors that must be considered carefully if the living roof is indeed to survive.  The guide is free and can be downloaded from the web site at www.enviromat.co.uk or ordered direct from Q Lawns on 01842 828266.  

 

For more details about using Enviromat for landscaping, contact either Angela Lambert or Hannah Driscoll at Q Lawns on 01842 828266. Email hannahd@qlawns.co.uk or sales@qlawns.co.uk  or visit the newly re-vamped website at www.enviromat.co.uk

 

A Perfect Cut Flower - Gladiolus

Credit: De Jager Bulbs

by Bob Willard, General Manager of www.dejager.co.uk

 

Imagine as you enter a room the stunning sight of a tall vase filled with elegant brightly coloured Gladioli.  Gladioli look equally at home gracing an ornate flower arrangement in a stately house or cathedral or making a statement in a plain modern vase in a contemporary apartment.

 

You can buy them in a flower shop or market but I think it is far better to experience the satisfaction of stems of blooms you have grown in your flower borders, in an area dedicated for cut flowers or, like me, on your allotment for the sole purpose of cutting them for the house.

 

To obtain the best results Gladiolus do best in well-drained soil in a sunny position. Improve heavy or light soil by working in light compost. Before planting, thinly cover with well-rotted manure and rake in. Rake bone-meal into the surface at the rate 3-4ozs per sq metre.

 

Corms should be planted 10-15cm apart and 10cm deep from late March until early June making sure that each corm is settled firmly. In heavy soil place them on sharp sand to help drainage. Do take care not plant too shallowly or they may fall over when in bloom.

 

Do not hoe or apply fertiliser until young shoots appear, and then hoe lightly and often to check weeds.  Aerate the soil gently with a hoe and apply a light top-dressing of fish manure around the shoots.

 

After eight to ten weeks, when secondary roots will have formed, water generously, particularly during dry periods after the flower spike has appeared.  Take care to support them should the flower stems become heavy and as cutting time approaches, if it rains, do shake them gently so that the flowers don’t spoil by becoming too wet.

 

The usual time between planting and flowering for large flowering gladioli, size 14cms, is around 100 days depending on weather conditions. The smaller Butterfly varieties take 7 to 10 days longer.

 

After flowering allow foliage to turn yellow/brown, approx mid-October. Corms can then be lifted before the first frost, remove from soil, and cut off main stem half inch above each corm. Dry the corms for 7 to 10 days in a dry and airy place, then store in trays or shallow boxes in a cool, frost-free place during the winter.

 

ANNUAL CALENDAR

 

Spring Mid-March

Plant the first batch of corms if the weather is mild.

 

April-May

Continue planting in batches, using several different cultivars. When shoots start to show, keep ground well weeded.

 

SUMMER (July – August)

Primulinus and miniature hybrids are in bloom. Large-flowered hybrids start to blossom in late July. Keep plants well watered and feed moderately. Stake tall hybrids from behind the flowers.

 

AUTUMN (September)

 

Large flowered hybrids in bloom.

 

October

Lift corms when the first frosts blacken foliage. Dry in a warm place (18-24°C) for two weeks. Clean and dust with fungicide. Prepare ground for spring planting.

 

WINTER (December – February)

 

Store corms in a dry frost-free shed. Check regularly for signs of disease or softness. Throw away shrivelled corms.

 

 

P. de Jager & Sons Limited has been selling top quality and top size bulbs for over 140 years.  I cannot over-emphasise the importance of size.  Top size bulbs really do make a huge difference both in terms of flowering and naturalisation.  Smaller size bulbs will be less expensive but the results will be very noticeably inferior.  

 

Their new summer collection has just been launched so visit www.dejager.co.uk for more information.

Aims of the green belt

• To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas • To prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another • To assist in safeguarding the countryside from encroachment • To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns • To assist in urban regeneration, by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land.

Jacob Rees Mogg Describes Green Belt as a Corset

At an IEA think tank event Tory MP Jacob Rees Mogg described the green belt as a corset, and seems keen to start building on it. A corset of course is only a problem, if you have an ever expanding waistline, and thanks to politicians like him adding millions of people to the population, in the last few decades, all of England's towns and cities are no longer big enough. His seems to be to ignorant of why they were created in the first place.

Do you think the Tories would be so keen to build on the green belt if many of them were not going to make millions of £ from land that gets planning permission, rather than just be agricultural land?

Begbroke & Yarnton Green Belt

Photos from the Begbroke & Yarnton Green Belt Campaign. This area of green belt keeps villages north of Oxford City as seperate places. Currently there is an attempt to remove the land's greenbelt status, so up to 4,400 homes can be built, which would join up the three places as one. (4,400 homes will likely mean approx 6,000 cars and 10,000 people.)

In the 2011 census Begbroke had a population of 783. The village has a parish church with a history stretching back to the 12th century. The village hall has bowling and cricket greens. Yarnton's population in the 2011 census was 2,545. This historic village has a manor house, that dates back to the Norman era. St Bartholomew, the parish church was rebuilt in the 13th century. Inside there is remains of wall paintings dating from the 14th century.

Kidlington, the largest of the settlements has a population of about 13,000. It was mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. St Mary the Virgin Church in the village was built in 1220.

The land targeted for housing is a mix of arable land, grazing pastures and native deciduous trees and hedges. The butterfly above is a Speckled Wood.

Here is a video of the local councillors as they vote in favour of the plans to build on the greenbelt, which would merge the villages for the first time ever in approximately 1000 years.

Begbroke & Yarnton Green Belt campaign website https://www.ourgreenbelt.uk/

Green belt - Cheltenham Gloucester

* Areas highlighted in red do not show officially designated green belt, but green space separating conurbations. However, it is likely some or all of the space highlighted will be green belt.

* City centres tend to be lighter in colour in satellite images. The surburbs tend to show as dark grey, probably due to all the slate coloured house roofs.

* Click on the image for a larger version.

* The areas were highlighted, often after zooming in closer to see where suburbs ended. In the screengrabs of this ratio it isnt always quite as clear.

The historic spa town of Cheltenham and the city of Gloucester have expanded so much they now nearly form one joined up urban area. If you look at the highlighted area, at its thinnest point, there is just two farm fields seperating them.

5000 Hectares of Green belt lost 2017 - 2018 in England

5,000 hectares of green belt across England between March 2017 and March 2018 has been lost,according to government statistics. This is one of the largest losses in many years. To help put this figure in context, the city of Leicester is 7,300 hectares in size. The city of Bath is 2,900 hectares in size. The city of Norwich is 3,902 hectares in size. The city of Oxford is 4,559 hectares in size.

So in just 12 months the total amount of green belt being built on is equivalent to adding a city the size of Oxford to England.