Expertise of perennial plant growers offers incredible and unmissable opportunity in urban greening

Collaboration between perennial plant growers and local city councils is vital for successful planning and planting of urban greenery. This was one of the key conclusions of the 60 attendees of the 2024 ISU Summer Days, who embarked on a urban greening safari in Angers, France in mid-August.

Alice Evain, head of the urban green spaces department of the city of Angers, discussed the perks and challenges of turning Angers in a lush green oasis.

The city has 600 mm of precipitation per year, high evaporation rates and increasingly faces  periods of serious drought. Therefore they are tapping into the knowledge of perennial plant expert David Gordon to select plants suitable for Angers’ microclimate.

Roadside planting scheme in the city of Angers.

Evain explained that even the narrowest strip along houses or kerbsides are used to plant cooling greenery and allow rainwater to infiltrate.

In its planting schemes, the city uses sown in field flowers and drought resistant perennials and shrubs combined with a range of native plants.

How can the city of Angers survive climate change? The participants of the ISU Summer Days listened attentively to the reports of the head of the Parks Department and perennial gardener David Gordon.

(399) Inspiring, permanent perennial plantings were planted at the town hall in a stimulating bed design. Alice Evain and David Gordon explain the composition.

(50) In order to cool the city and make use of rainwater, sealed surfaces were broken up and planted, even in confined spaces.