Gardening in a changing climate
Gardens facing the challenge
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Conservation built in
Kew has been working towards internationally-recognised sustainability standards for four years, aiming for modern-day targets within the garden’s historic framework.
‘Kew’s mission is about conservation, so managing the gardens with as little environmental impact as possible is important,’ says Tony Kirkham, Arboretum Curator, who is responsible for co-ordinating efforts to give Kew as light an environmental footprint as possible.
Four years ago, Kew started working towards the international standard for Environmental Management (ISO 14001). ‘It made us look at our impacts, not just in the gardens but the office, research labs, visitor catering and shops,’ says Tony. Kew’s horticulture showed up well in the resulting audit thanks to long-term commitments to composting, biological pest control and managing the gardens for high biodiversity.
Kew’s famous glasshouses are big users of energy, but the boilers are as efficient as possible. ‘We are looking at dropping temperatures by a few degrees, if possible.’
Only formal areas of grass are now tight-clipped. ’In four years we’ve increased the area of longer grass by the equivalent of five soccer pitches, and that’s brought biodiversity benefits too,’ says Tony.