Environment: October 2007 Archives
If you are a gardener who is wondering what to plant in order to help wildlife and promote biodiversity, have a look at the Natural History Museum's Postcode Database. All you do is supply your postcode and up comes a list of plants that are native to your local area. It's brilliant!
There are sections for all types of plants, annual, perennial, water plants etc. 'Gardenworthy' plants are marked, many are illustrated and there is information about each plant and any species of wildlife that needs it to survive. In this way, you can learn as you browse and choose plants. Of course, you will also be helping to maintain our own native plant stocks as well.
It can be very satisfying and calming to sit in a garden that is full of birdsong and the buzzing of insect-life. Such a garden is usually a healthy and rich habitat, that is good to be in and likely to attract birds, frogs, toads and possibly hedgehogs, even in Stoke Newington.
I remember sitting next to a native blackthorn bush in a friend's garden, which was in full bloom. I spent a long, peaceful time happily listening to the constant hum of bees and hoverflies from amongst the delicate white flowers. Later, I enjoyed some of my friend's delicious sloe gin, made from the previous year's fruit from the same bush!
A silent garden seems barren and rather boring to me, no matter how many exotic plants are in it. Many insects find highly cultivated plants to be inhospitable, often because they cannot access pollen and nectar as flower heads are too tightly formed. So try including such beautiful flowers as primroses or purple loosestrife in your garden, native plants which help support many insects.
Check out the Website to find lovely plants ideal for your own area, so you can create wildlife habitats and make your garden or windowsills more interesting - and know you are helping the environment.
Here's the Agrimony entry from the Database - an attractive flower, native to Stoke Newington, N16.
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/fff/index.html
There are sections for all types of plants, annual, perennial, water plants etc. 'Gardenworthy' plants are marked, many are illustrated and there is information about each plant and any species of wildlife that needs it to survive. In this way, you can learn as you browse and choose plants. Of course, you will also be helping to maintain our own native plant stocks as well.
It can be very satisfying and calming to sit in a garden that is full of birdsong and the buzzing of insect-life. Such a garden is usually a healthy and rich habitat, that is good to be in and likely to attract birds, frogs, toads and possibly hedgehogs, even in Stoke Newington.
I remember sitting next to a native blackthorn bush in a friend's garden, which was in full bloom. I spent a long, peaceful time happily listening to the constant hum of bees and hoverflies from amongst the delicate white flowers. Later, I enjoyed some of my friend's delicious sloe gin, made from the previous year's fruit from the same bush!
A silent garden seems barren and rather boring to me, no matter how many exotic plants are in it. Many insects find highly cultivated plants to be inhospitable, often because they cannot access pollen and nectar as flower heads are too tightly formed. So try including such beautiful flowers as primroses or purple loosestrife in your garden, native plants which help support many insects.
Check out the Website to find lovely plants ideal for your own area, so you can create wildlife habitats and make your garden or windowsills more interesting - and know you are helping the environment.
Here's the Agrimony entry from the Database - an attractive flower, native to Stoke Newington, N16.
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Agrimony
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| Family: | Rosaceae |
| Provenance: | Native |
| Form: | Herbaceous Perennial |
| Protected status: | Not Protected |
| Garden status: | Gardenworthy |
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Specific Animal Associations
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| Plant part(s) | Animal common name | Animal latin name | Stage | Type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| General associations: | ||||||||||
| Leaves | Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | Egg |
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| Grizzled Skipper | Pyrgus malvae | Larva |
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http://www.nhm.ac.uk/fff/index.html
The Blog
This is a new departure for me and for my Website. I hope that this Blog will enable me to keep pupils informed about term dates etc plus offer news and ideas from the world of the Alexander Technique. Sometimes pupils express the desire to connect with others who are learning the Technique and this Blog offers one way this can happen.
I also want to add new material to my site that includes other areas of interest - topics that are local to Stoke Newington and Newington Green, plus environmental concerns in particular. Why add these topics to a Website about the Alexander Technique?. Well, in A/T we learn to be aware of how we live and act in the world and learn to take care of ourselves in a specific manner, all the time becoming aware of the immediate environment around us. For instance, sometimes we will think about how we use a computer and as part of that process we will look at how well our equipment is placed for us, so that we can give ourselves the best chance we can to use our bodies well whilst typing - or reading this Blog, of course!
I want to take this approach out into the wider world - what can we do to help make our world a better, healthier place to live in? Our quality of life is affected by our environment and this impacts on our wellbeing. Discovering about our local area can help us to connect with it and to develop the urge to actively care for it. Contact with gardens and other green spaces is known to help reduce stress levels and to improve our health but city parks are all too often uncared for, or are so highly 'manicured' that they support no wildlife. All parks and green spaces tend to be in short supply and they will be even more so, if the government builds on those they can label brownfield sites.
The refurbishment and transformation of Newington Green has resulted in the Green being given various awards. This is an example of positive change that was brought about through local action, with the lead being taken by the Newington Green Action Group, who engendered public involvement and consultation with the Council. The Green has gone from being the run-down haunt of alcoholics, to the much enjoyed community space that it is now. The Green is still somewhat barren from a wildlife standpoint, with just a flock of 100 feral pigeons, an occasional visit from a blackbird and little else. However, with plans to improve the situation in the near future, biodiversity surely has to be increased. We are almost starting with a blank canvas.
With climate change increasingly being an issue we need to engage with the problems and cherish every outdoor space, to maximise their capacity to combat CO2 and pollution levels, to mop up excess water and to create spaces that are good for both wildlife and humans.
So often we can feel powerless when faced with such daunting topics as climate change but there are many ways in which we can act, that could contribute in a positive way to both the global situation and to our own health and wellbeing, plus our enjoyment of the area we live in. We can all do things that help - remember -
Every Action Counts
Quite how far this Blog will expand I do not know. Meanwhile I've gone from thinking about looking after our backs, to thinking about caring for the environment and the world of invertebrates, creatures that have no spine at all.
If you would like regular updates from my Blog, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed above.
Watch this space!
This is a new departure for me and for my Website. I hope that this Blog will enable me to keep pupils informed about term dates etc plus offer news and ideas from the world of the Alexander Technique. Sometimes pupils express the desire to connect with others who are learning the Technique and this Blog offers one way this can happen.
I also want to add new material to my site that includes other areas of interest - topics that are local to Stoke Newington and Newington Green, plus environmental concerns in particular. Why add these topics to a Website about the Alexander Technique?. Well, in A/T we learn to be aware of how we live and act in the world and learn to take care of ourselves in a specific manner, all the time becoming aware of the immediate environment around us. For instance, sometimes we will think about how we use a computer and as part of that process we will look at how well our equipment is placed for us, so that we can give ourselves the best chance we can to use our bodies well whilst typing - or reading this Blog, of course!
I want to take this approach out into the wider world - what can we do to help make our world a better, healthier place to live in? Our quality of life is affected by our environment and this impacts on our wellbeing. Discovering about our local area can help us to connect with it and to develop the urge to actively care for it. Contact with gardens and other green spaces is known to help reduce stress levels and to improve our health but city parks are all too often uncared for, or are so highly 'manicured' that they support no wildlife. All parks and green spaces tend to be in short supply and they will be even more so, if the government builds on those they can label brownfield sites.
The refurbishment and transformation of Newington Green has resulted in the Green being given various awards. This is an example of positive change that was brought about through local action, with the lead being taken by the Newington Green Action Group, who engendered public involvement and consultation with the Council. The Green has gone from being the run-down haunt of alcoholics, to the much enjoyed community space that it is now. The Green is still somewhat barren from a wildlife standpoint, with just a flock of 100 feral pigeons, an occasional visit from a blackbird and little else. However, with plans to improve the situation in the near future, biodiversity surely has to be increased. We are almost starting with a blank canvas.
With climate change increasingly being an issue we need to engage with the problems and cherish every outdoor space, to maximise their capacity to combat CO2 and pollution levels, to mop up excess water and to create spaces that are good for both wildlife and humans.
So often we can feel powerless when faced with such daunting topics as climate change but there are many ways in which we can act, that could contribute in a positive way to both the global situation and to our own health and wellbeing, plus our enjoyment of the area we live in. We can all do things that help - remember -
Every Action Counts
Quite how far this Blog will expand I do not know. Meanwhile I've gone from thinking about looking after our backs, to thinking about caring for the environment and the world of invertebrates, creatures that have no spine at all.
If you would like regular updates from my Blog, you can subscribe to the RSS Feed above.
Watch this space!
Hilary King - BA (Hons) PGDip Psychol. Dip Couns. MSTAT - Tel: 020 7254 9206
Copyright © 2004 - 2007 Hilary King, All rights reserved.