NOT JUST STEEP BUT VERTICAL

When you look around greenspaces, the more urban ones particularly, it is striking just how much of the landscape is vertical: walls, fences and tree trunks for example. Whilst some of these have to be kept clean and free of colonising organisms for various reasons, many are more attractive if concealed with a bit of biological assistance. There are many possibilities, some occurring through natural colonisation such as the many mosses and lichens, and others requiring human assistance, but once vegetation of one kind or another is established, valuable habitat for animals follows: food, shelter and breeding places for invertebrates and, with larger plants and the cover & food they provide, birds particularly.

I have made a (by no means exhaustive) list of species for vertical surfaces which I have published in the Worcestershire Naturalists’ Club’s Transactions Volume 6 Part 4 (please contact me if you would like a copy) and I hope you will be able to spot some of them, although you’ll need a good key for the mosses and lichens. I have not listed liverworts or considered fungi (except as lichen partners) or microscopic species generally, of which there are a myriad. My basic list contains thirty mosses, thirty-six lichens and nineteen tracheophytes (vascular plants).

All the mosses and lichens of my list are native. Some of the tracheophytes are exotics but have biodiversity benefits in terms of nectar/pollen/seeds/berries and/or providing good opportunities/cover for bird nesting sites. Those that are not self-clinging will require support on walls although they may be able to climb up trees more-or-less unaided. Landscapers will usually have done any planting before we take over sites, although we can supplement that.

To encourage mosses and lichens to colonise walls and tree trunks, some people advocate painting/spraying the surface with a seaweed fertilizer or yoghurt, but this is not really necessary. You will usually find that surfaces in direct sunlight are not easily colonised – most, but not all, mosses and lichens prefer at least some shade. Few vascular plants like north-facing walls although ivy is an exception. Some positively revel in the warmth of a protective south-facing wall. There are not many native climbers but there are many more exotic climbers and wall shrubs than I have listed.

Betts Ecology is always keen to increase biodiversity and we encourage growth on vertical surfaces wherever we can in our efforts to protect and enhance biodiversity.

© Betts Ecology