Autumn is a wonderful time to start preparing for the East Grinstead in Bloom Front Garden competition. And this year there is an important new category in the competition – making a home for nature in our gardens.
We can all see how there are fewer bats, birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, and wildflowers than when we were younger. The UK State of Nature report tells us that some of these creatures will even be lost forever. So, let us play our part in saving what we can.
Yet every garden has the potential to be a haven for wildlife. Once you know what to plant and how to embrace a little mess, you can turn your outdoor space into a thriving biodiversity garden. The word ‘biodiversity’ simply refers to all the kinds of different life you can find in one area.
Below is a menu of ways to offer space for nature in your garden. If this is a novel approach for you, why not start with the things that look the easiest:
Pruning and tidying up less will create homes and food for hedgehogs and insects. Leave piles of dead leaves and twigs in a quiet part of the garden. Instead of cutting everything back, leave a few seedheads, hollow stems and low-lying foliage.
Offer water – a birdbath for birds and an old bucket or sink for frogs and newts.
Stonecrops, sedums, helenium, Michaelmas daisies, are rich in nectar for autumn pollinators as well as attractive pops of autumn colour. For more planting inspiration, and precise species, visit the RHS website: RHS top 12 plants for-autumn pollinators
If you have a bigger space, planting native small shrubs like holly, hawthorn and rowan will provide food and shelter for birds, insects, and small mammals by. Choose well and they will provide colour and interest all through the year. For specific suggestions check out: Woodlandtrust.org.uk wildlife in autumn
You can sign your garden up for East Grinstead in Bloom in early April, judging will be mid-July. More details will be given in the next issue of East Grinstead Living.
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