Call to put gardens at heart of housebuilding push for nature and climate

Gardens should be at the heart of new house building – with planting included in measures to boost wildlife in developments, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has urged.

The horticultural charity said gardens and cultivated plants offer nature-based solutions for climate change such as slowing the flow of rainwater and cooling urban areas, and provide an important home for wildlife and boost wellbeing.

The RHS, which is hosting more than 70 green infrastructure experts from around the world, wants to see updated planning guidelines to require cultivated landscapes and garden master plans for urban areas.

And it wants to work with the Government to find ways to include gardens and planting in external spaces on new developments in "biodiversity net gain" rules that require developers to increase overall habitat for nature by 10% as part of their projects.

The RHS suggests that if gardens and cultivated plants were included in biodiversity net gain measures, developments would not just have small plots laid to lawn but gardens planted with wildlife-friendly perennials and trees.

This would provide important wildlife corridors, food for pollinators and protection against flooding and pollution – boosting wellbeing through food growing and social interaction, health and wildlife, the RHS said.

But currently the contribution of 400,000 cultivated plants grown in gardens is overlooked, and in many cases private and community gardens are an afterthought rather than central to the design stage, the charity argues.

Alistair Griffiths, director of science and collections at the RHS, said: "With plans for a once in a generation housebuilding spree, it is time for a collaborative and coordinated strategy that puts gardens and cultivated green spaces at the heart of our communities, leveraging their numerous benefits for many more people and providing space for active and not simply passive engagement with nature."

Professor Griffiths said garden planting should not replace provision of wilder areas as part of developments, saying it was important to identify precious biodiversity and habitats and make sure they were safeguarded.

But he said: "We shouldn't ignore the fact that gardens are not biodiversity deserts," pointing to a 30-year study of one Leicester garden which found 2,673 species, with 1,997 insects, including a quarter of the UK's wild bees, butterflies and ladybirds, 138 other invertebrates and 64 vertebrates.

He also said it was important to consider what plants would be needed to support wildlife and people in a changing climate, suggesting a mixture of native and non-native plants would be needed to boost resilience.