A new study co-authored by the Royal Horticultural Society and University of Reading has shown that gardeners are more likely to choose plants with environmental benefits if they understand how those plants can help combat the effects of climate change.
RHS research over the last two decades has found that plants with high transpiration rates can help reduce flood risk and provide urban cooling and hairy-leaved plants capture particulate pollution, making them an important first defence as the climate crisis results in less frequent but heavier rainfall and flash flooding in our urban areas, increased average temperatures and high levels of pollution.
In a study published in Landscape and Urban Planning, more than 400 participants were divided into two groups – one was given basic facts about environmental issues such as climate change and urban flooding while the other group was also given information about how to potentially manage those problems by growing plants with desirable traits, such as hairy leaves and high transpiration rates.
‘Action-related’ knowledge - whereby participants were offered solutions - significantly increased the likelihood of people changing their planting preferences in favour of varieties that could mitigate flooding and reduce air pollution. In addition, participants that were concerned about, or had experienced, the impacts of climate change were significantly more willing to select taxa (or species) that provided environmental benefits.
As a result of the research the RHS wants to work with growers and retailers to explore how labelling can inform planting choices, having last year launched its RHS Plants for Purpose project to organise the UK’s 400,000 cultivated plants according to benefit, such as flooding mitigation, air pollution capture, cooling, and support for wildlife. RHS scientists are developing the lists with the assistance of AI, starting with the traits identified as desirable in tackling a problem.
RHS Plants for Pollinators relaunched in July and is available here: www.rhs.org.uk/science/research/plants-for-pollinators
