PUBLIC spaces across Leamington, Warwick and Stratford will soon be a lot greener thanks to a project which has received funding from the Warwickshire County Council Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.
The Warwickshire Living Walls project by Forest of Hearts is among 69 projects to win funding from the Green Shoots Fund, having received the maximum available sum of £25k.
The funds will enable the project to design and install 100 metres of green walls at hospital and public access sites in Warwick, Leamington and Stratford. This will form part of a larger programme of environmental projects, creating six Gardens of Wellbeing across Warwickshire.
The species-rich planted walls are designed to absorb particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, reduce the harmful effects of traffic in the atmosphere, and enhance biodiversity.
The sustainable drought-resistant vertical gardens improve wellbeing and provide employment, training and volunteering opportunities for young people.
They will also help to deliver green therapy sessions to the local community.
The living walls will be planted with a wide range of evergreen plants – recommended for their ability to produce oxygen and capture nitrogen dioxide – including thyme, oregano, sedum, vinca major and Bergenia.
The Forest of Hearts Living Walls will be installed with an innovative self-watering system with each planter having a storage reservoir so that watering is only done once a week during the summer months.
Carole Longden, CEO and Founder of Forest of Hearts said: “We are delighted to help to boost biodiversity and do our bit for the local community with beautiful vertical gardens and we would like to thank Warwickshire County Council for their generous support.”
Warwickshire County Council’s environment, climate and culture spokeswoman Coun Heather Timms said: “When we set out our hopes for the Green Shoots Climate Change Fund, we asked our community and voluntary sector to come up with new and innovative ways for tackling the climate change emergency in Warwickshire – and the Warwickshire Living Walls project by Forest of Hearts met that brief perfectly.
“Living Walls are becoming more common across Europe, particularly in cities, where the issue of limited green space is being addressed by creating beautiful vertical gardens and forests by repurposing existing walls and buildings with a variety of hardy plant life.
“It’s great news for Warwickshire that we will soon be getting our own living walls. The benefits of these walls are profound: they work round the clock to produce oxygen, purify the air and provide residents with a variety of vertical green spaces to benefit their overall wellbeing.”
Visit https://forestofhearts.com for more information about Forest of Hearts.
Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund for more information about the Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund, or https://tinyurl.com/a23saubz for a full list of projects that will receive funding.
Visit http://eepurl.com/hrk-zf for the latest news about how Warwickshire County Council and partners are facing the challenge of the climate emergency and how to get involved.
