Growing Greener: Growing in the city

About our guest

Dr Tijana Blanusa leads the RHS Ecosystem Services Research Programme, identifying the structural and functional traits of plants that can be isolated, optimised and employed to benefit the wider environment.

She tells us: “Most of the UK population nowadays lives in towns and cities. Domestic gardens form a large proportion of UK urban areas (up to 30 per cent) so what we grow in them and how we manage them can have a significant environmental impact. My research contributes to the understanding what structural and functional traits plants need to provide environmental benefits (like cooling, rainfall capture and air quality improvement) well. In my role as a scientist for the RHS I am able to pass this knowledge on so that our gardeners can make planting choices that not only look and feel good but which benefit the environment."

Find out more:

• About Dr Tijana Blanusa
• How hedges can help with localised flooding
• Hedges: choices with environmental benefits
• Plants for city gardens
• Gardening in a changing climate

Catch up on the first three series of the BBC Gardeners' World Magazine Podcast:

Terms and conditions
After your first 3 issues for £5, paid via Direct Debit, you will automatically pay £27.60 every 6 issues. You can cancel your subscription at any time. We reserve the right to reject or cancel subscriptions at any point if the customer has previously cancelled their subscription during the trial period for that magazine or any other magazine in the Immediate Media portfolio.