Category: Wildlife Habitat: Wildlife Friendly Gardens

1. Road verges - a silver lining? says Plantlife

   Posted on 5:00pm Thursday 9th Apr 2020

   If I’m driving along in my car, I always find the wildlife flowers on our verges to be very uplifting to see. And whilst I’ve been having my daily one walk during the lockdown because of the coronavirus, I’ve really enjoyed seeing all the wild flowers which are about. Please give Plantlife your support with their Road Verge Campaign Plantlife is a charity that works nationally and internationally to raise the profile of our wild flowers, plants and our fungi.  They support our wildlife and they are vital.  Their colour and character give us cheer and brighten up our day and journeys. It’s really important to protect our wild flowers, our plants and our fungi.  And our roadsides have been much quieter of late, as lockdown is observed.  The drone of many councils’ mowers have also fall silent as councils may have reduced grass cutting down to the minimum required to maintain visibility and make sure our roads are safe. Plantlife hope that reduced cutting frequencies may help verge wildflowers to grow, flower and set seed.  Flowers such as the white campion, betony, greater knapweed and harebell, the chance to grow, flower and set seed.  The good news is that a more wildlife-friendly management regime will help tackle climate change. Over 300 local authorities have now declared a climate emergency.   Reducing their cutting regimes, as recommended in Plantlife’s management guidelines, will also help councils bring down carbon emissions.  Hopefully it won’t be long before we can all get outside and enjoy the wild flowers along our roadside.  Meantime, please visit Plantlife’s website to see how you can support their “Support the road verge campaign.”

    

2. Make a bird feeder at home to help wildlife

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 29th Jan 2019

   If you're looking for activities for the kids to do which get them closer to wildlife, take a look at the Woodland Trust's blog. They have three wonderful ways you can help wildlife, including making your own bird feeder.  No baking is required, either!    ©Woodland Trust As well as listing the ingredients to include, the blog helpfully includes things to avoid, and also the method of making your feeder. As well as getting messy and making your own homemade bird feeder, you can then watch the visitors coming to your garden to enjoy the feast you've left them!   Get the kids to see how many they can spot and identify - it's a great way to get them close to nature. Also on the blog you'll find a way to turn used carton into seed holders.  Visit the Woodland Trust's blog here

    

3. Fill your garden with 20% off plants, seeds and bulbs from Thompson & Morgan on this special offer

   Posted on 9:00am Friday 18th Jan 2019

   If you've been wanting to fill your garden with colour or fill gaps which haven't got anything in them, then this could be a good time to do it. Online retailers Thompson & Morgan have a great offer on this weekend with 20% off their plants, bulbs and seeds.    From Friday 18th January 2019 at 00:00:01 ending on Monday 21st January 2019 at 23:59:59, you can enjoy 20% off your order from them.   You just click through to activate your discount. If that doesn't work, apply TM_TN510W into the promotion order code box within your shopping basket. This offer excludes all products within their Tool Shed, Outdoor Living, Buildings & Fencing and Wild Birdfood categories.  And it cannot be used in conjunction with promotional vouchers or any other offer including all reader & advert offers. Plus it's applicable to UK postcodes only. Go shopping at Thompson & Morgan and fill your garden with beauty!

    

4. Will you Pledge a Patch for wildlife?

   Posted on 9:00am Thursday 16th Aug 2018

   Worcestershire Wildlife Trust have come up with a great initiative, asking people to Pledge a Patch for wildlife.   Although they are asking people in Worcestershire to do this, I thought, what a brilliant idea - and so I wanted to let everyone know about it in the hope more people would follow suit wherever they are and pledge a patch for wildlife! There are 46 Wildlife Trusts around the UK - you can find your local here. The Worcestershire Wildlife Trust is celebrating its 50th birthday and it now has 75+ nature reserves across Worcestershire.  They describe them as "stepping stones in the landscape" - I love that description.  And they are asking people to join the dogs so that wildlife can move through safely.  Wildlife all over the world need wildlife corridors to help them move from one place to another and these are vital to help them reach everything they need to survive and thrive.  Ideas of how you can pledge a patch are... (and no, you don't need a garden)... Fill a window box with nectar and pollen rich plants Attach a bug box to the wall of your house Leave a 1m by 1m square of grass longer so that daisies can grow for the bees Put up a nest box for birds Plant a pollinator patch in an area of land - businesses could easily do that Bring your neighbours together and ensure that hedgehogs can get from one garden to another easily Join up with locals to turn an unused patch of land into an areas for butterflies Create a small pond for frogs and toads Offer to manage a local verge and fill it with wild flowers - just sow wildflowers around it and don't mow it so often So there's plenty everyone can do wherever you are.  80 peole have already signed up to the Pledge a Patch initiative and you can find out more from their website here.

    

5. Wildlife Friendly Gardening - help from the RSPB & Barrett Homes

   Posted on 1:00pm Monday 13th Aug 2018

    

   Here’s news of a great partnership. The RSPB have just joined forces with Barrett Homes.   They apparently are looking to create developments and green spaces that’s friendly to nature. Give them a home, and they will come - as the RSPB advert says There's no doubt in my mind that having wildlife in a garden give the place far more colour and life. There's nothing like watching the birds from a corner of the garden take a splash in a bird bath, or feast on the food you've put out for them - or to discover a hedgehog, or watch butterflies flutter from one group of flowers to another.  Honestly, it's like having your own nature show. 60% of the species which have been monitored in the UK in the last 50 years are declining.   And yet, private gardens in the UK cover about 450,000 hectares of land – an area larger than Suffolk. So the potential to create fantastic places for wildlife is huge.  And they don’t need a lot of room, as Butterfly Conservation’s Pot for Pollinators  shows – you just need a pot with a butterfly friendly plant stuck in it and anyone can put that on a patio or balcony.  Anyway, back to the RSPB and Barrett Homes. They’ve created some advice to help you get started giving nature a home in your garden.  The guide has basic steps on how to make your garden wildlife friendly, garden features that will help you make the most of any size garden (so there’ s no need to have a garden the size of Kent to get started), and a full plant guide of what to plant and what not to plant. Get shopping for the birds at the RSPB's online shop So take a look at it – you can DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE from the RSPB’s website HERE.