Gardening for Nature
With a loss of 97% of flower-rich meadows since the 1930s, our gardens are a lifeline for struggling pollinators, and with an estimated 24 million gardens in the UK, together we can make a big difference.
There are lots of ways you can garden for nature, why not . . .
- Embrace your wild side and have a go at No Mow May. The best part is that you don’t have to do anything at all!
- Try growing your own food – fresh, and rich in nutrients! Start small, maybe with a few herbs and see what grows from there!
- Conserve water with a water butt, mulch your plants to reduce watering, and water your plants early so they can absorb the water before the day warms up.
- Avoid using chemical pesticides and herbicides in your garden, as these can harm beneficial insects and pollinators. Instead, use natural pest control methods, such as companion planting and encouraging predators like ladybirds and lacewings.
- Create a bug hotel to encourage beneficial insects.
- Compost! Use kitchen scraps and garden waste to create compost for healthy soil, and reduce methane as it breaks down well.
- Make your garden wildlife friendly with water, food and shelter for birds, bees and wandering wildlife.
- Plant for wildlife with a diverse range of flowering plants which bloom throughout the year, prioritising native species which are great for insects and wildlife.
- Plant hedgerows and create wildlife corridors.
- Garden organically, to stop poisonous chemicals harming wildlife.
- Swap out using compost with peat in, which is taken from important carbon storing bogs and damages fragile ecosystems, for homemade or peat free compost.
- Avoid single use plastics, and opt for biodegradable or recyclable alternatives. Consider starting seeds in homemade newspaper pots, toilet roll inner tubes, or reusable seed trays.
Ways to Support Wildlife
Hedgehogs
Check out the Hedgehog Preservation Society’s top tips for helping hedgehogs in your garden.
Worms
Worms are essential for soil health, some ways to help worms according to the Sussex Wildlife Trust are:
- Create a compost heap or get a compost bin
- Feed your soil with organic matter such as compost or manure
- Replace artificial grass with real grass
- Replace nonpermeable tarmac or concrete with a porous gravel drive or pull up some paving slabs to make mini flower beds
- Don’t use chemical fertilisers and pesticides
- Buy peat free compost
Find out more about worms and how to garden for your local Sussex wildlife at Go Wild at Home | Sussex Wildlife Trust
Non-Chemical Weed Control
Advice from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
According to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS): “Weedkillers (herbicides) are products designed to kill unwanted plants. They aren’t specific to ‘weeds’ and have the potential to damage or kill a wide range of garden plants when used incorrectly.”
The recommend that “the simplest way to avoid weedkiller damage is not to use weedkillers in your garden. The RHS encourages gardeners to use non-chemical weed control methods” and offer guides for how to, such as the RHS guide to Weeds in Lawns, the RHS guide to Non-Chemical Weed Control and the RHS Guide to Weeds on Hard Surfaces.
The RHS “does not support the use of weedkillers and recommends that alternative control methods are used” as:
- “Weedkillers have a large carbon footprint from their manufacture, packaging and transportation.
- Surface and groundwater pollution is caused by weedkiller runoff, accidental spillages and incorrect disposal. This poses a significant threat to aquatic wildlife.
- Weedkillers can damage or kill garden plants if the wrong product is used or if applied incorrectly. See our page on weedkiller damage for more information.
- There are concerns that weedkillers pose a risk to human health, and research is ongoing into the long-term effects of exposure to these chemicals.
- Growing media can become contaminated by weedkillers. Clopyralid, an active ingredient in many selective lawn weedkillers, binds to grass and remains active in grass clippings. Adding these to a home compost bin and using the resulting compost can damage and distort garden plants. There have also been cases of damage by commercial potting composts, made using contaminated green waste.
- Weedkillers can harm or kill garden wildlife, including invertebrates present on plants when they are treated, and those, like bees and other pollinators, that feed on treated plants. The loss of vegetation, flower resources and habitat cover through the use of weedkiller can also impact negatively on wildlife.”
