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Go native with postcode plants, gardeners told
08/12/09
Edited by Sophie Griffiths. Modern farming methods and the loss of hedgerows and woodland are making native wildflowers increasingly endangered, which has prompted one green-fingered expert to look at growing "postcode plants".
Writing on the Gardeners' World blog, Kate Bradbury said the Natural History Museum has set up a postcode plants database to help residential property owners around the UK support the plant species local to their area.
She noted that native plants tend to be far more beneficial for wildlife than introduced ones.
"A native tree, such as oak or hawthorn, might provide food and shelter for 150 insects, birds and other animals, but an introduced one, such as Japanese maple, is often devoid of wildlife," Ms. Bradbury wrote.
Of course, native plants are also far better adapted to dealing with soil and climate conditions in the UK and are much more likely to grow in difficult areas on a garden, she added.
Ms. Bradbury said she would be planting some of the species on the database from her own postcode, including familiar plants like foxglove, cranesbill and viper's bugloss, as well as more unusual plants such as stinking goosefoot, three-nerved sandwort and autumn lady's tresses.
