Rigby Taylor Helps Bring
Nature Into Towns
Increasing numbers of county,
borough and parish councils, as
well as schools, are seeing high
levels of improvements in the
increased levels of visual impact
and the biodiversity benefits being
created by their use of Rigby Taylor’s
EuroFlor urban flower mixtures.
Importantly, too, local community
budgets are also benefiting from
the reduced cost of the urban
flower seed mixes compared to
bedding schemes. Indeed, not
only is the seed and installation
cost much cheaper, but in-season
maintenance costs are also reduced.
As an example, Monmouthshire
County Council has been winning
plaudits from both the public and
wildlife experts with outstanding
results from using EuroFlor.
Upon entering the county visitors
are greeted by welcome signs
carrying a bee symbol to indicate
the work the council is doing to
encourage pollinating insects
and to acknowledge the council’s
recently introduced Pollinator
Policy. Tenor and Classic (perennial
and annual) EuroFlor mixture were
sown on Monmouth’s roundabouts
and roadsides, and attracted
hundreds of letters of praise from
the public.
Nigel Leaworthy, operations
manager for landscape and
grounds maintenance, says: “The
displays ticked so many boxes in
relation to the Pollinator Policy, ie
no plants grown in greenhouses,
no travelling to the individual sites
once planted to weed every two
weeks, no watering, etc.
“We identified strategic locations
where the flower mixes would
look best – roundabouts, housing
estates, trunk roads and motorways
– and determined that the EuroFlor
mixes would eliminate 85 per cent
of our annual bedding and provide
savings in excess of £40,000 per
annum.”
Other councils throughout the UK
have had similar experiences.
EuroFlor mixtures provide:
•
Choice of both annual and
perennial mixtures
•
Selected mixtures for both
spring and autumn sowings
•
Low installation and
maintenance cost
•
High visual impact & long
flower displays
•
Support for pollinating
insects
•
Ecological & species
biodiversity
•
Germination tested and
packed in foil sachets.
Ecology seminar shows what
wildflowers can do
An ecology seminar at Great
Barr Golf Club in Birmingham
was attended by over 40 sports,
amenity turf and landscape
professionals who heard some
excellent presentations on the
ecological opportunities provided
by wildflowers, how this can be
managed as part of a sustainable
landscape programme and what
innovative solutions are available.
Also, Chris Stilgoe, head
greenkeeper at the golf course,
hosted an on-course site visit
showing what can be achieved by
sowing EuroFlor mixtures on the
course.
www.rigbytaylor.com
Landscape & Urban Design Issue 21
53