The National Trust – Space to Grow – Why people need gardens

By The National Trust
2009

Excerpts:

Gardens connect people with food

21 per cent of people have taken up gardening to grow their own fruit and vegetables.

The Trust now cares for 26 working kitchen gardens, from Trengwainton, Cornwall, to Wallington, Northumberland. At the magnificent 2.5 acre kitchen garden at Knightshayes Court in Devon we work with local schools who now come on a regular basis to tend their plots and learn about growing
food.

The National Trust now looks after over 200 gardens and parks and and 32 Plant Heritage National Plant Collections and over 70,000 plant species. We employ 450 professional gardeners, who are assisted by 1,500 volunteer gardeners. Another 2,400 volunteers help with activities such as plant selling and guided talks.

Gardens are a source of joy and pleasure

Gardening is one of Britain’s most popular pastimes. Most weekends 11 million of us will be tending our gardens, and more than twice that number say they enjoy visiting gardens each year.

Garden keep people healthy

Weeding for 30 minutes can burn the same amount of calories as a half-hour walk.

Gardens provide opportunities

Public gardens, domestic gardens, botanic gardens and parks, nursery trades, market gardens and historic properties employ over 200,000 people in horticulture.

Gardens help change lives

The ladies from Styal women’s prison had the chance to experience a variety of skills they probably would never have even considered. The scheme so far has had great success with two of them on release finding employment in a very short time and getting their lives back on track.

Gardens inspire action

A garden sprinkler can use 300–650 litres in an hour – as much as a family of four uses in a day. We are resurrecting old wells and harvesting rain water and installing more efficient irrigation.

Garden are wildlife refuges

Paving over of front gardens is one of the main reasons why London’s house sparrow population has declined by 70 percent in 10 years.

Gardens as outdoor classrooms

The majority of the public (80 per cent) think that all children should learn about gardening, including growing food, at school. Studies have shown that pupils from years six to eight developed better interpersonal relationship skills after participating in a garden programme.

Gardens act as gene banks

Over 300,000 species of cultivated plants are grown in UK gardens, compared to only around 1,500 native species.

Gardens as part of our cultural heritage

Keeping garden traditions alive and interpreting their histories for new generations is a vital part of the management of all National Trust properties. At Sissinghurst in Kent, the famous gardens designed by Vita Sackville-West are carefully maintained by a team of gardeners in the spirit of her original plans and methods.

Facing the challenges to our gardens

The Trust is re-thinking what conservation in a changing climate will mean, and we are already altering our gardening methods. For example, we mow over 30 square miles of lawn, consuming more than 200,000 gallons of fuel a year, so finding alternatives is vital.

Call to action

Expanding and improving the quality of public and community gardens and allotments should be at the heart of green infrastructure strategies and community development, particularly in areas with a poverty of green space.

See the colourful, information-filled document here. Large document 28 page PDF – slow download.