April 17, 2018 A new campaign is seeking to turn the city into a pollinator’s playground by planting a wildflower […]
April 17, 2018
A new campaign is seeking to turn the city into a pollinator’s playground by planting a wildflower for every resident.
According to Lonely Planet, London National Park City has launched an initiative to plant 9 million wildflowers across the UK capital—one for each resident.
The campaign, dubbed #WildflowersForLondoners, is made possible by Seedball. The organization packages seeds in biodegradable clay spheres meant to protect plants in their early stages. The balls that will be scattered throughout London each contain a blend of seeds from wildflower species suitable for urban environments, along with a dose of chili powder to ward off predators.
“By backing our campaign, you are helping us to show Londoners how easy it is to #getgrowing in our own neighbourhoods and how, through small actions, over time we can transform our urban landscape into a beautiful city of colourful wildflowers returning every year” say the organizers.
To take part in the project, London residents can donate to the online crowdfunding campaign and receive their own batch of seed balls. The seeds can be planted in window boxes, parks, planters, or at the bases of trees that line city blocks. The goal is to blanket the landscape in colorful plant life that will brighten up the city through this summer and return next year.
The wildflower-planting initiative is about more than beautifying the city of London. Flowers are also important for the survival of pollinators like bees, whose populations have taken a hit in the UK and around the world in recent years. There are organizations similar to Seedball that encourage people to toss their wildflower seed “bombs” wherever bees might benefit from them.