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1st April 2012
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Destructive Chinese beetle found breeding in Kent
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The Asian Longhorn Beetle, which can grow to nearly 2in long and might bite if handled, could cause the death of tens of thousands of trees and cost the country millions of pounds if it becomes established.
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Seven of its larvae have been found in a poplar tree close to the village of Paddock Wood, near Maidstone, Kent. The tree is about 100 yards from where Bob Dylan is due to play to a 50,000-strong crowd at the Hop Farm Music Festival in June.
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The beetle threatens broadleaved trees including sycamore, ash, birch, willow, poplar, and some fruit trees.
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The Forestry Commission last night warned that the beetle – normally found in China - may already have had at least one undisturbed breeding season at the outbreak site.
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Exit holes in some trees suggested that larvae growing under the bark had matured and spread elsewhere. They are capable of flying more than 1.2 miles.
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Source: The Telegraph
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29th March 2012
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Pesticides hit queen bee numbers
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Some of the world's most commonly used pesticides are killing bees by damaging their ability to navigate and reducing numbers of queens, research suggests.
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Scientific groups in the UK and France studied the effects of
neonicotinoids, which are used in more than 100 nations on farm crops and in gardens.
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The UK team found the pesticides caused an 85% drop in queen production.
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Writing in the journal Science, the groups note that bee declines in many countries are reducing crop yields.
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In the UK alone, pollination is calculated to be worth about £430m to the national economy.
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Source: BBC
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11th March
2012
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Plants' natural circadian rhythm genes revealed
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A gene that triggers plants to become dormant at night and controls flowering has been discovered by scientists.
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Computer models of cress plants genes showed how 12 genes work together to set plants' internal clocks, University of Edinburgh researchers said.
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They found that a protein, known as TOC1, previously associated with helping plants to wake up, dampened down gene activity at night.
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Professor Andrew Millar said "it was a big change in thinking".
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Plants, animals and even bacteria go through a daily 24-hour routine, known as a circadian rhythm, which allow them to make tiny adjustments as daylight changes, and adapt to changing seasons.
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Source: BBC Nature
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31st January
2012
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Rare plants to be reintroduced to Somerset
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Two species of rare plant are to be reintroduced to wetland nature reserves on the Somerset Levels.
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The Somerset Wildlife Trust and Bristol Zoo Gardens joint project will see the greater water parsnip and devil's bit scabious make a return to the area.
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Bristol Zoo horticulturists will grow greater water parsnips from seed, before transferring them to Inaura School.
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Pupils will continue to grow them before they are taken to the reserves.
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Source: BBC
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18th January
2012
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'Thrilling' New York design chosen for Aberdeen
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A three-dimensional web-like network
of raised pathways linking eight interconnected gardens,
designed by the creators of New York's award-winning High Line,
has won the design commission for a controversial project to
redevelop Union Terrace Gardens in the heart of Aberdeen.
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The panel of local business people and politicians described 'Granite Web', from New York studio Diller Scofidio and Renfro in collaboration with Scottish-based Keppie Design, as 'thrilling' and said the design team had 'overwhelmed' the jury with their vision and sensitivity.
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However the decision was branded 'an unpopular choice for an unpopular project' by Friends of Union Terrace Gardens, one of several campaign groups opposing the £140 million project.
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Source: RHS
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17th January
2012
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Blowin’ In The Wind?
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As climate change speeds up, British plants could be gone with the wind. Or not. In a new analysis, researchers explore how waning or waxing wind speeds across the United Kingdom in the future might alter the flow of gale-born seeds. And while uncertainties remain high, some plants, such as the native lizard orchid
(Himantoglossum hircinum), could find themselves stuck, the team reports in the Journal of Ecology.
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Many plants spread their seeds by letting them drift on the wind. But climate change promises to alter wind patterns, and a past study of North American trees suggested that doldrums brought on by climate shifts could alter their ability to adapt to a shifting climate. In the current study, researchers at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Wallingford, England, dug up how British gusts might or might not similarly halt the flow of seeds.
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The researchers first drew on 17 simulations of climate change for the years 2070-2099. They then incorporated demography data from three native British plants exclusive to the south of the island. They also included three non-native species, including the tree of heaven (Ailanthus
altissimam), a Central European woody plant.
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Source: Conservation Magazine
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Thomas
Hoblyn to bring an Italianate garden to RHS Chelsea Flower
Show 2012 for Arthritis Research UK
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| Award-winning landscape and garden designer Tom Hoblyn will return to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2012 to stage one of the major show gardens for leading research charity Arthritis Research UK.
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| For his fifth year at RHS Chelsea, Hoblyn will create a garden inspired by the great Renaissance gardens of Italy, capturing the drama, formality and beauty of these historic gardens, whilst indulging his passion for creative planting.
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| Hoblyn said: “I have long harboured an obsession for the Italian Renaissance gardens – the fascinating theory of controlling nature, the divine proportions and perfect symmetry, majestically portrayed against decadent architecture, truly captures my imagination”.
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