Green is the theme

I think it's about time I made good my promise and wrote about green walls, especially since I now see that M&S have taken this idea on board.

This kind of planting is simply spectacular and I just love it. I think it's one of the greatest gardening achievements since the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. 

M&S are dedicated to incorporating green walls (and roofs) on all new buildings, not just for ecological reasons but on the basis of sound economic sense. 

Both green roofs and walls are instrumental in controlling the climate inside the building and in the greater outdoors  - with reduced internal heating and air conditioning costs, not to mention externally reducing rain runoff and mitigating flooding. 

All this and looking pretty damn good too. Definitely a win win situation.

This is the new Sheffield store. Not just walls but trolley and bike shelters have had the green treatment too.

If you want to read the M&S mission statement on sustainability go to:-

http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/documents/publications/2010/biodiversity-pages-20.pdf

It has a foreword written by the wonderful and wonderfully named Dusty Gedge.

A highly commended strategy. Maybe more stores will follow where M&S lead.

Although not a new idea (the concept dates from 1938) it came to prominence in the late 1980's, in France, being showcased by Patrick Blanc.

For a potted history of the great man himself go to:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Blanc

Trained as a botanist, he created a garden at Chaumont sur Loire (the French version of the Chelsea Flower show) in 1994 having first built a trial green wall at the Museum of Science and Industry in Paris in 1988. 

Still experimenting, he went on to refine his ideas and patent his systems.

This is the green wall inside the Hotel Pershing in Paris, built in 2001 and photographed in 2005.

My camera could not capture the sheer size and impact of Blanc's creation

but it still manages to

convey the complexity and scale of 

the planting

and 

impart the magical feel of the space.

His wall still looked good in 2010.

For better imagery and to be totally amazed and impressed look at the hotel's website:

http://www.pershinghall.com/

You have to admire the sheer technical skill involved in creating a green wall. The actual mechanics of watering, feeding and maintaining of plants on the vertical is just mind blowing. 

Imagine having to choose the plants for a specific site, designing what will go where and complement its companion and then actually doing the planting.

Wow!

Not a career for someone who is easily intimidated or suffers from acrophobia. 

When you look at the sheer size of some of his later creations they are just 

logistical nightmares. 

This is the newest 

Aboukir wall Paris

Just look at his planting design




How fantastic. 

And how clever.

A green and pleasant land?

There has been much suffering and damage caused this year by flooding, both locally here in Yorkshire and elsewhere in the UK.

Going back many years, we lived in Sinnington, bordering the River Seven.

Idyllic, isn't it?

What was then the Yorkshire River Authority came every year and cleared the river course, coppicing willows and cutting back brash which had rooted over the previous year. When this body was swallowed by the Environment Agency that annual housekeeping ceased. 

Was it coincidence then that the village suffered the worst floods in its recent history after that? 

Although we were lucky enough not to be flooded our house was marooned by flood water which was fast flowing, turgid and unpleasant. The back flow into neighbours' homes was indescribable, with water oozing through walls and floors as the water inexorably found its way in. 

The problem of foul water in their homes took months to recover from, in terms of ruined fittings and furniture, re-wiring, re-flooring, re-plastering and last but not least getting rid of the noxious smell. 

Not so idyllic then.

Having seen at first hand the devastation caused to ordinary people's lives I have enormous sympathy for those who remain affected by flooding.

Whilst not suggesting the Environment Agency is totally responsible for the 2014 Somerset levels nightmare, I feel there are questions to be asked.

What was their process of monitoring river courses, ensuring these were free flowing, and able to carry the anticipated volume of water ?

Were houses built on flood plains, and if so, why and how was planning granted?

It's not just the big obvious issues which contribute to flooding.
Increased turbulent weather conditions behove all of us to alleviate flash flooding where we can. It's not someone else's problem, it's mine and it's yours.

In many towns, front gardens are concreted over to create parking. Repeated house after house and street after street, this amounts to idiocy on a massive scale.

This method of hard landscaping forces all rainwater immediately into the drainage system. When a heavy downpour occurs the system is overwhelmed. As a result, localised flooding occurs and the risk of urban flash floods is increased.

A more environmentally friendly way is to oblige householders to provide hard standing with a permeable base whereby water is allowed to soak slowly away into the drains. Equally up to the job and a sustainable way of disposing of runoff.

Alternative and inexpensive ideas to replace domestic concreted car parking areas are listed on 

http://www.susdrain.org/

together with a list of recommendations we should all adopt.

This website promotes sustainable drainage systems 
(SuDS for short) and needs to shout its message from the rooftops.

These ideas, all practical, achievable and not necessarily expensive, are things everyone can do to slow down the runoff rushing into the drains. 

Anything which will hold back and delay water being absorbed into the system is of benefit and awareness needs to be raised of how every individual can help.

If these ideas are adopted wholesale the impact can be nothing short of incredible.

Part of the re-thinking about drainage is the promotion of green roofs.

Even a small garden shed roof can be both practical and a thing of beauty, especially if you want to encourage insect life.

I love Nigel Dunnett and his pioneering work on green walls and roofs in the UK and his profile makes fascinating reading

http://www.shef.ac.uk/landscape/staff/profiles/ndunnett

If you can buy, beg or borrow do read and draw inspiration from his book 

Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls 

co-written with Noel Kingsbury.

 Brilliant....... and made me want to go out and plant a green roof immediately.

Apart from being aesthetically pleasing green roofs can provide wildlife habitats and help mitigate extremes of our changing weather patterns.

I am seriously sold on the idea of greenery anywhere and everywhere - either on the roof or up the walls. I'll look later at living walls with the prime exponent of this art, Patrick Blanc, another of my heroes.

Just think, if we all adopted some of SuDS ideas, how much more green and pleasant would our green and pleasant land be?

Believe I've just added a shed to my garden wish list. With a nice roof.