Gardening | The Big Green Ideas List

How to take climate action – plant a lot of trees

Why should I plant trees?

Trees absorb and lock away carbon – on average about 22kg of CO₂ per year^[1] – so it’s horrifying that human activity has already cleared about half of the Earth’s tropical forests^[2] and a further 7.3 million hectares are destroyed every year.^[2] That’s the same as about 10.5 million football (soccer) pitches or 13.7 million NFL football fields.

Research shows that planting billions of trees is the simplest and cheapest way to help tackle the climate crisis^[3]. The study’s authors calculated that it should be possible to increase tree cover by 25%. When mature, the extra forested areas would be capable of locking away 200 gigatonnes of carbon (25% of current atmospheric carbon)^[3].

While we absolutely must reduce emissions as well, planting trees is a quick, easy win, because it doesn’t require political will or rely on technology that hasn’t been invented yet. It’s a low-tech, cheap solution that can be started right now by anyone, anywhere.

In addition to capturing carbon, responsible reforestation also:

prevents soil erosion
improves soil health
prevents flooding by improving groundwater recharge (the process by which water returns to the water table)
supports native plants and animals
regulates local temperatures (e.g. cooling cities naturally)
and provides work for local communities

Where does tree planting have the most effect?

Trees planted in tropical areas were long believed to have the most impact^[4]. So, on a global scale, it’s good to support a scheme that aims to plant millions of trees in equatorial areas, like Earth Day’s Canopy Project. Alongside many other campaigns, they plant trees in areas most at risk from climate change and after environmental disasters.

However, more recent evidence indicates that the UK’s older trees lock away twice as much carbon as previously thought – so really there’s no bad place to plant a tree, so long as it’s a native tree, and not in a monoculture (i.e. not a huge area all planted with the same type of tree).

Here are some great examples of international tree planting.

How can I plant more trees in my area?

close up of two red and green eating apples on an apple tree. On the left, the blurred background gives the impression of more apple trees

If you’re in charge of a lot of land (e.g. managing an estate, a park, a school or looking after community-owned land), check out the Woodland Trust’s tree planting scheme. They can help with access to grants and funding schemes and suggest which trees you should plant. They can even supply free trees to schools and communities. Applications open in spring for autumn delivery, because it’s best to plant trees in late autumn/winter.

In your area, support schemes to plant native trees in public spaces, or plans to plant locally-appropriate woodland and forests, and support campaigns to replant forests that have been destroyed by farming and mining. Support these schemes even if they change your local landscape so it looks unfamiliar to you.

If you have room at home, plant a native and appropriately-sized tree. Research how big it will grow, or ask a tree specialist, so you don’t cut out all your light and damage your home’s foundations. If you plant a fruit tree, you can also have a free seasonal supply of apples, pears or other fruit.

If you have less space, planting any leafy plant will help. Consider planting fruit bushes, or something that flowers in the winter, like viburnum, to provide early or out-of-season food for beneficial insects like bees.

If you have no outdoor space at all, even indoor plants will help. They’ll remove CO₂ from the air, and they’ll also help remove volatile organic compounds (given off by furnishings and paint) from your home. Good Housekeeping, quoting a study by NASA, recommends aloe vera, areca palm and snake plant, among others.

_{[1] Urbanforestrynetwork.org. (2019). Trees Improve Our Air Quality. [online] Available at: http://urbanforestrynetwork.org/benefits/air%20quality.htm [Accessed 27 Jul. 2019]}

_{[2] Earth Day. n.d. The Canopy Project | Earth Day. [online] Available at: <https://www.earthday.org/campaign/the-canopy-project/> [Accessed 14 February 2021].}

_{[3] “Th}_{e restoration of forested land at a global scale could help capture atmospheric carbon and mitigate climate change.”) Bastin et al (2019). The global tree restoration potential. Science, [online] 365(6448), pp.76-79. Available at: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6448/76.}

_[4]_{Carrington, D., 2019. Tree planting ‘has mind-blowing potential’ to tackle climate crisis. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/04/planting-billions-trees-best-tackle-climate-crisis-scientists-canopy-emissions> [Accessed 14 February 2021].}

_{[5] Gill, V. (2022) UK’s old trees critical to climate change fight, BBC News. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64028694 (Accessed: February 5, 2023).}

_{^{Image credits:
Rainforest: photo by Alenka Skvarc on Unsplash
Apples on a tree: photo by Sokmean Nou on Unsplash}}

Categories: Carbon absorption, Community & action, Gardening, High impact, Uncategorized

Better gardening with bee-and-insect-friendly plants

bee on white and pink flower with blurred background

Why do we need to support bees and other insects?

Bees and other insects pollinate around one-third of the food crops we rely on and 80% of flowering plants – but bee populations are in decline due to pesticide use, habitat loss and disease.

You can help create safe, pesticide-free habitats for bees and beneficial insects by planting bee-friendly and insect-friendly plants in your garden.

Which are the best plants to attract bees?

Plants will vary by area, but colourful flowering native species are likely to be best for your local bee and insect population.

Friends of the Earth has a list of trees, shrubs, flowers, herbs, wildflowers, fruit and vegetables to help you choose plants that will attract bees and other pollinators all year round. It includes favourites like lavender, and surprises like ivy, which flowers late in the year when there isn’t much else around. (Viburnum is another pretty, scented winter plant that provides early food for insects.) They also have advice on how to provide shelter and water that’s safe for bees to get to.

Re-wilding large areas of the countryside needs political will, but if enough of us start now, we can make a difference while the politicians catch up. You can make a difference at the local level by persuading your local council to mow roadside verges less often, letting the wildflowers grow until July. The bees will be happy and so will the council – they’ll save money on contractors.

_{Photo credit: Sensei Minimal on Unsplash}

Categories: Bees, insects & rewilding, Cheap, Gardening, High impact

How to cut your climate impact – eat seasonally

butternut squash soup with chilli and parsley

There’s a cost to eating whatever we want, whenever we want it – our food has to travel further, often from different continents, or it’s grown locally in industrial heated greenhouses. Both of these options increase the greenhouse gas emissions generated to bring your food to your table.

It’s hard to justify eating our favourite fruit and vegetables fresh all year round. The alternatives are buying local and growing your own – which means eating seasonally.

How do I start eating seasonally if I’m not a good cook?

If you’re not used to cooking from scratch, there’s still plenty you can do to eat seasonally:

Think about what vegetables you’re eating with your meal. For example, in winter and early spring, you could roast squash, carrots, parsnips or beetroot instead of summer vegetables that have been grown in heated industrial greenhouses or flown thousands of miles
Check Riverford or Abel & Cole’s websites to see what fruit and vegetables they’re currently selling in their seasonal boxes (then buy the same items from the supermarket if that suits your budget better)
Learn to cook some simple meals (using whatever you like) to build your confidence, and then move on to more challenging recipes with seasonal ingredients
Alternatively, use fruit and vegetables that have been frozen in season (e.g. peas), preserved in oil (e.g. sun-dried tomatoes or peppers), or buy cans (e.g. pears, potatoes, or tomatoes)

How do I start eating seasonally if I’m a confident cook?

Eating seasonally can be a fun and interesting challenge for confident cooks.

Think about what sorts of fruit and vegetables your grandparents or great-grandparents might have eaten at this time of year, and use that as a guide
If you need to use a non-seasonal ingredient, buy it frozen, canned, dried or preserved
Check Abel & Cole or Riverford for seasonal boxes, either to start you off or get you through the winter and spring when there isn’t much to be harvested. Both companies can supply your choice of familiar or unfamiliar fruit and vegetables, and also provide recipes showing you how to use them
Search Pinterest for ideas and BBC Good Food for recipes featuring your main seasonal ingredient
Experiment and create new meals by swapping out an ingredient in a favourite recipe and using a seasonal ingredient instead

How do I start eating seasonally if I want to grow my own food?

Eating seasonally is most rewarding if you grow some of your own food. The pride you get from finally eating vegetables you’ve grown from seed and tended through the summer heat is amazing!

Remember you don’t have to do it all at once – if you want to start growing your own, it’s best to start with fruit and vegetables that you know you’ll eat, so your effort doesn’t go to waste. We started with tomatoes, peppers, squash and courgettes because we eat a lot of them and they can be grown without a greenhouse. You might be able to grow some salad items on a windowsill in winter too
Join a local gardening club or Facebook group to get advice on when to plant and what’s going wrong with your plants
To give yourself the best chance of success, find out:
– the best planting times in your country or zone
– the first and last frost dates for your area
– what type of soil you have
– which areas of your garden get full or partial sun, and what grows best in each area
Learn about companion planting and crop rotation to help your plants thrive
Make the most of all the space in your garden. Consider pots, raised beds, vegetables planted amongst flowers, hanging baskets, vertical space (trellis, poles, fences), cold frames to extend the growing season, vines and fruit trees grown against warm house walls, a fruit cage or a greenhouse
Get an allotment
Arrange to tend someone else’s garden in exchange for giving them a share of the produce (try Lend and Tend (UK), AllotMe (UK) or Shared Earth (US))
If you’re really going for it and want to be entirely self-sufficient, estimates for the amount of land needed range from 0.75 to 1.25 acres per person for a vegetarian diet. Check out this Grand Designs episode for the story of an inspirational couple who feed not just themselves and their family, but also support their catering business, on five acres of land in Somerset (season 22, episode 9)
See our gardening page for more ideas

_{^{Image credit: photo by Sara Dubler on Unsplash}}

Categories: Food, Gardening, Travel & commuting, Uncategorized

How to take climate action – grow your own food

green and red tomatoes growing ripening on vine

Why should I grow my own food?

Every piece of food that you grow yourself saves you money, has zero food miles, zero packaging waste, gets you outside in the fresh air, and gives you a massive sense of achievement. You also get the satisfaction of eating seasonally and learning to store and use your own produce.

You can do it on a small scale or a large scale. In different houses, over the years, I’ve grown vegetables in a dedicated vegetable plot, mixed in amongst flowers in the border, on windowsills, and on balconies.

If you haven’t got the space to grow fruit and vegetables at home, consider an allotment. However, there are often long waiting lists for allotments, so if you can see yourself wanting one in the future, contact your local council and get your name down now.
Alternatively, arrange to tend someone else’s garden in exchange for sharing the produce (try Lend and Tend (UK), AllotMe (UK) or Shared Earth (US)).

What seeds should I buy?

The seeds you buy from the garden centre are often either F1 hybrids or genetically modified. The offspring are likely to be infertile or unstable, which means there’s no point saving seed from your plants to sow next year, locking you into a never-ending seed-purchase cycle that only benefits the international seed companies.

While this isn’t likely to be a big problem for hobby growers, it could become a huge problem for farmers in developing countries if the monopoly suppliers jack up their prices. And, as climate change increases the frequency of extreme and unpredictable weather events, the reducing genetic range (and therefore adaptability) of our staple food crops could become a problem for all of us.

I prefer not to support the big international seed companies, and I like the seed I use to be stable and unmodified, so I buy mine from a family company that grows heirloom varieties. In my experience, the seeds germinate reliably, generally produce good crops, and you can save the seed from your plants to use them next year. They even give you instructions on how to save the seed.

Here is a list of companies that sell organic seeds in the UK, courtesy of The Ecologist journal.

How can I get the most out of a small plot?

The majority of homes in the UK have very small plots, and we’ve all been trained to think that a flawless lawn is “peak garden”. So you may need to think creatively if you want to grow fruit and vegetables at home while allowing the rest of your family to continue to enjoy the garden in their own way.

If your partner isn’t convinced, create a Pinterest board of “beautiful gardens that aren’t lawns” to help them visualise what you’re planning
Remember you don’t have to do it all at once. Start with fruit and vegetables that you know you’ll eat, so your effort doesn’t go to waste. We started with tomatoes, peppers, squash and courgettes because we eat a lot of them and they can be grown without a greenhouse
Protect your crops from dogs, balls and children with a sturdy fence or a fruit cage
You can grow salad items on a windowsill, possibly even in winter (depending on how much sun the windowsill gets)
Join a local gardening club or Facebook group to get advice on when to plant and what’s going wrong with your plants
Find out when the last and first frost dates are in your area
Learn which plants grow well together and which don’t
To make the most of the space you have, try:
– growing in pots
– raised beds
– vegetables planted amongst flowers
– salad leaves as ground cover or ornamental lawn edging
– hanging baskets (good for protecting strawberries from slugs)
– increasing your growing area by using vertical space, e.g. growing plants up a trellis, an arch, a cone made of bamboo poles, or along wires fastened to fences
– using cold frames to extend the growing season
– growing vines and fruit trees against sunny walls so the plants benefit from the heat store
– underplanting vertical plants (like sweetcorn, tomatoes or beans) with ground cover plants (like lettuce, courgettes or squash)
If you have enough space, a fruit cage or a greenhouse will help protect your crops so you get a better yield
If you have too little space for your needs, apply for an allotment or tend a neighbour’s garden in exchange for giving them a share of the produce

How can I become fully self-sufficient?

If you’re really going for it and want to be fully self-sufficient, estimates for the amount of land needed range from 0.75 to 1.25 acres per person for a vegetarian diet.

Check out this Grand Designs episode for the story of an inspirational couple who feed not just themselves and their family, but also support their catering business, on five acres of land in Somerset (season 22, episode 9).

If you’re living the self-sufficiency dream, we’d love to hear about it for our inspirational stories – please email info@biggreenideaslist.com and let us know!

_{Photo credit: Dan Gold on Unsplash}

Categories: Food, Gardening, High impact, Saves money, Waste