Lisburn goes wild for national gardening week

THIS weekend will see Lisburn’s school children, along with 1,200 other groups from across the UK, sow millions of wildflower seeds provided by the Royal Horticultural Society.

Over 150 square metres of wildflower meadow will be sown in Northern Ireland this weekend (14-15 April), to mark the launch of the UK’s biggest environmental campaign, RHS Britain in Bloom 2012.

A fitting start to the UK’s first National Gardening Week (16–22 April) it is an initiative that will help replenish some of the 97% of wildflower meadows lost since 1930. Anyone can join in the event by typing their postcode into a map on RHS Online: www.rhs.org.uk/getinvolved.

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UK wildflower populations are in serious decline. Pressures from agriculture and development, together with neglect, continue to impact on the remaining areas and have a significant effect on local ecosystems.

Once the wildflowers are in full bloom groups will be able to record the number of insects they see via an online bug survey created by the RHS in partnership with invertebrate conservation charity, Buglife.

As part of National Gardening week Tuesday 17 April, celebrates Gardens of the Nation and the RHS will ask everyone in the UK to send their best garden pictures for the charity’s award-winning Lindley Library archives to provide a historical record of gardens today.