News: Spring/Summer 2006

A local authority has found that the dumping of garden waste in or near local woodlands is threatening their natural flora.

Teignbridge District Council in Devon says that people dumping garden rubbish in woods and hedgerows or planting bulbs in the wild are putting native species at risk. The council is trying to tackle the problem as part of a strategy for its 15 woodlands, most of which are said to be suffering to some extent. The most common culprit is the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica), which crossbreeds with the English variety (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) to produce a plant that is stouter and less delicate (Hyacinthoides hispanica x non-scripta).

BBC. 2006. Rubbish danger to native plants. Viewed at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4683156.stm on February 6th 2006.