Take a look down any leafy street and it's easy to see why gardens make our towns and cities so appealing. Yet, at the RHS, we know that gardens in these urban areas are not just valuable for their looks - they offer a wide range of other benefits, from providing homes for wildlife to preventing flooding.
For helpful information and handy tips on what an urban gardener can do to improve the immediate landscape read the Urban Gardening review summary, (1,016kB pdf).
To show exactly what the benefits are, our scientists are conducting a unique review of all the available research. The aim is to produce a definitive paper on why gardening in the urban environment is such a good thing, and how to manage your gardens so that the contribution outweighs any potential negative impacts.
We hope this will help and inspire all gardeners, irrespective of their location, to reap the rewards.
What is urban greening?
Urban greening simply means growing plants wherever possible in towns and cities.
Each individual may only have a small garden but, together, the amount of greenspace we look after really adds up – it’s about 25% of the land in most cities. And, as more than 80% of the UK population live in a town or cities, we really can make a difference by ensuring that every available space in our front and back garden contains planting.
Why urban greening is important for all of us
Urban Greening at Chelsea Flower Show 2012
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The popular Continuous Learning section at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show returns for 2012 with a new name 'RHS Environment'.
The zone will host interactive exhibits based around urban greening topics of; communities, biodiversity, grow your own, flooding, carbon emissions and many others.
The RHS are encouraging applications from community groups, specialist societies, leading organisations and designers who demonstrate innovative research, projects and technological developments.
If you wish to create an Urban Greening exhibit in the RHS Environment, please email exhibitorapplications@rhs.org.uk.