*[Enwl-eng] Could you be a guerrilla gardener? Интересная идея про "партизанское садоводство"
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No images? Click here  If you have a garden, you have a tiny pocket of habitat itching to burst its bounds. How far you decide to let it do that is up to you. At stake are homes for local wildlife and a pump capable of removing more and more carbon from the air. The burning of coal, oil and gas dumped more than 36 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere last year, thickening the blanket of heat-trapping gases that is raising Earth's temperature. Clearly, the climate crisis demands a solution many times bigger than a lawn, but getting your hands dirty for the planet could be a good place to start. You're reading the Imagine newsletter – a weekly synthesis of academic insight on solutions to climate change, brought to you by The Conversation. I'm Jack Marley, energy and environment editor. This week, we're discussing a form of climate action anyone can do – even if you don't have a garden. Autumn looms and with it, the last cut and tidy of the year. Ideally, you would have delayed mowing your grass until midsummer and let patches of your garden grow wild to nurture wildflowers. Bees and butterflies are the beneficiaries of a light touch to gardening in the summer says Gareth Griffith, a professor of fungal ecology at Aberystwyth University. But with regular trims from August onwards (and not forgetting to remove the clippings) you can coax rare mushrooms from the turf. Some, like the brightly coloured waxcaps, were more common before much of Britain's grasslands were parcelled into manicured lawns. "The British Isles is a global hotspot for these fungi, but they are threatened by habitat loss," says Griffith. "Eleven species found in the UK were assessed by international experts as vulnerable – the same extinction risk faced by the panda and snow leopard." The mushrooms you're likely to see at this time of year are really emissaries for a much larger community underground. Fungi thread together vast networks in the soil that exchange nutrients and water with plants for the sugars they make via photosynthesis. A study published earlier this year suggested these microscopic filaments (known as mycorrhizae) connecting plants and mushrooms absorb the equivalent of 36% of the world's annual CO₂ emissions from burning fossil fuels. "As we search for ways to slow or stop the climate crisis, we often look to familiar solutions: cutting fossil fuel use, switching to renewables and restoring forests. This research shows we need to look down too, into our soils," says a team of ecologists led by Adam Frew at Western Sydney University. So what do you need to do to nourish carbon-hungry soil? The good news is, very little. "Gardening doesn’t have to be a guilt-inducing chore," according to Aimee Brett, a lecturer in ecology and conservation at Nottingham Trent University. "In fact, it can be a liberating act of eco-conscious laziness." Digging up soil exposes the carbon it contains to the air. Plant perennial soft fruit bushes which can grow for many years and require little maintenance; add companion crops like asparagus in between which suppress weeds and keep the soil covered. This ensures it isn't easily disturbed and allows carbon to accumulate. "Keep it covered, stay lazy," Brett urges. All the shade these shrubs generate will offer a lifeline to wildlife next summer. Extreme heatwaves are becoming more common, threatening animals with exhaustion and dehydration. A cool and leafy refuge could be the difference between life and death for some species. What if you don't have a garden? Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their own patch of grass and shrubs. In fact, a survey conducted at the height of the pandemic suggested one in eight people in Britain has no access to a private or shared garden, with black people in England four times less likely than white people to have outdoor space at home. That shouldn't stop you from cultivating habitats argues Ben Mayfield, a lecturer in law at Lancaster University. Instead, you could become a guerrilla gardener: someone who nurtures and revives land despite having no legal right to tend it. Guerrilla gardening involves spreading seeds, picking up litter or even planting herbs and vegetables for the whole community to enjoy on whatever patch you can access. It might be wasteland, a traffic island or something as small as the exposed earth beneath a broken paving slab. "But if you’re considering becoming a guerrilla gardener, it’s important to understand your rights," Mayfield says. If you live in the UK, most of the unused and abandoned land in your area will be owned by your local council. Walking across it is fine, but gardening may be an act of trespass. That would be a civil offence, Mayfield says, and so unlikely to result in a fine or criminal record. "One of the simplest forms of guerrilla gardening is planting seeds," he adds. "Some environmental projects circulate 'seed bombs' [small compost balls packed with the seeds of different wildflowers] and others use biodegradable 'seed balloons' that are filled with helium and deflate after a day, distributing seeds by air." When gardening for wildlife, it's important to carefully consider the wider ecosystem. "The most attractive species to humans might not provide the best home or food for wildlife. Some can even outcompete native plants and drive them towards extinction," Mayfield says. Guerrilla gardeners can help by pulling up invasive plants like Himalayan balsam. As any dedicated gardener will tell you, the party most likely to benefit from this toil is you. If you're worried about climate change, tending a garden with others could soothe your anxiety. "Community gardening is beneficial because it allows people to deal directly with their climate concerns by doing good for the environment," says Jose Young, an associate professor of psychology at Northumbria University. That good will be repaid in ways you'd probably struggle to predict, Young adds. "Contact with a soil bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae can trigger the release of serotonin, while foraging in a garden leads to more dopamine in the brain (both of which are hormones associated with feelings of happiness)." - Jack Marley, Environment commissioning editor Was this email forwarded to you? Join the 20,000 people who get one email every week about the most important issue of our time. Subscribe to Imagine.  Guerilla gardening: how you can make your local area greener without getting into trouble Many people are gardening on land that is not theirs – here are some things to consider to avoid getting into trouble.  A slacker’s guide to climate-friendly gardening Your less manicured garden has the potential to combat tackle climate change and help wildlife survive.  How community gardening could ease your climate concerns Could community gardening emerge as an effective method for addressing climate anxiety?  How to make your lawn wildlife friendly all year round – tips from an ecologist Plus, why you should always remove grass cuttings from your lawn.  Five ways to help wildlife in heatwaves If you're hot, so are your four-legged neighbours.  New research about underground fungal filaments suggests these networks store a vast amount of carbon. All the more reason to preserve them. Latest from The Conversation on climate change
From: Imagine newsletter
Sent: Wednesday, October 04, 2023 7:00 PM
Subject: Could you be a guerrilla
gardener? |
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