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By Alys Fowler\n \t\t<\/p>
Published: Thursday, 18 August 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>
Have you ever wondered which species might make the most superior hedge<\/a> or what the best street tree is? Not just look good but mitigate against flash flooding<\/a> or incept the most particulate pollution? Dr Tijana Blanusa has. She leads the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s Ecosystem Services Research Programme, which looks into the environmental benefits of gardens<\/a> and green infrastructure<\/a>. Her work is enabling us to understand the contribution plants make to our living environments. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a tree in a city, it\u2019s a cooling system,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s storing carbon, it\u2019s reducing noise, improving air quality, increasing biodiversity<\/a>. I am just fascinated by that, by how much a plant can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Tijana grew up in Belgrade, Serbia, and spent a lot of time in her grandfather\u2019s garden. \u201cWhen he retired he bought a plot of land, and took up bee keeping<\/a> and tending an orchard<\/a>,\u201d she says. \u201cOne day he said: \u2018Look I pruned<\/a> this tree and there\u2019s a half-kilo apple.\u2019 It was really the biggest apple I\u2019d ever seen and then he said, \u2018And here is a tree I haven\u2019t pruned,\u2019 and pointed to one with much smaller apples. That really fascinated me as a kid, how you can manipulate a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n Her fascination prompted her to study agronomy and crops science at university followed by a master\u2019s degree in plant physiology, before moving to the UK to begin a PhD on how much a cherry<\/a> tree can sustain in fruit. Then in 2003 she saw that the RHS was looking for a horticultural scientist. \u201cI knew straight way that it was my job.\u201d<\/p>\n The role, which has occupied her ever since, was conceived as a way to further links between the RHS and the University of Reading, where she\u2019s based. There she teaches green infrastructure and supervises numerous students from undergraduates to PhD students, but also works closely with the RHS advice team, and with architects, planners and builders to help inform better planting choices.<\/p>\n \u201cI like very practical science and I\u2019m a stickler for a simple, cheap solution,\u201d she says. For example, climbers<\/a> such as ivy<\/a> are good as a green wall<\/a> in terms of their insulation properties, but can damage the building, which is why one of her students has looked into using anti-graffiti paint as a cheap solution to prevent ivy from attaching to a building. But the projects she\u2019s worked on span everything from optimising water use in container-grown bedding plants to houseplants<\/a> and their effect on our wellbeing and how we incorporate green infrastructure into our living environment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I did my first project on a green fa\u00e7ade<\/a>, I really had to justify why I was doing it, there were so few references. But the understanding has grown exponentially from then. There\u2019s a real understanding that we need to incorporate plants into our urban planning and architecture,\u201d she says. \u201cOf course, gardeners understand this, but we need to expand that out into policy work. I mean people are putting in plastic lawns<\/a> and plastic hedges!\u201d<\/p>\n She knows there is much more to do and many more areas to look into. She\u2019s curious about urban food production and wants to investigate the genuine impact of growing your own. \u201cWhat\u2019s the nutritional value, how much do you really have to grow to make an impact?\u201d she asks. \u201cPlus, there\u2019s more work to do on green infrastructure, we understand a lot about what does and doesn\u2019t work on a species level, but we need to look into planting mixes rather than monocultures; can we enhance the overall potential of a garden with the right mix? It\u2019s so important to understand the details.\u201d<\/p>\n Even so her research is already making a difference. \u201cI\u2019m humbled that the science I do has a practical impact. When someone comes up to me at a conference and says: \u2018I saw one of your papers and we tried it out in our garden,\u2019 then I\u2019m very happy that I get to push our science forward.\u201d<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re still wondering what is the best hedge for reducing flooding, that would be hawthorn<\/a>. It takes up a lot of water while in growth, and then transpires it, increasing the soil\u2019s capacity to receive subsequent rainfall that could otherwise end up in drains. \u201cWhen it\u2019s physiologically active that plant just pumps up water. But it\u2019s deciduous, so in the winter it\u2019s not providing as much of a service, which is why we\u2019re experimenting with the very best mix,\u201d says Tijana. \u201cAlso Thuja plicata<\/em>; it has the most amazing canopy storage, it holds on to the rain and funnels it down into the soil over a long period, so it\u2019s really good for sandy soils. Canopy storage of water<\/a> in constant drizzle can make a real difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Her own garden, she admits, is an unplanned jumble of left-over plants from experiments \u2013 \u201cI\u2019m a plant scientist not a gardener\u201d \u2013 but she does at least have a hedge. \u201cIt\u2019s the only one left in the street. It looks lovely, I do very little other than cut it once a year.\u201d Thanks to Tijana\u2019s research we know that hedge is doing an awful lot of work.<\/p>\n I am just fascinated by how much a plant can do. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
I\u2019m a stickler for a simple, cheap solution. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>
There\u2019s a real understanding that we need to incorporate plants into our urban planning and architecture. <\/blockquote> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>