The State of Nature: Helping Wildlife in Your Garden

The RSPB has just released the 2016 State of Nature report on nature in Britain. For a nation of nature-lovers, we can certainly do a lot to improve. On the Biodiversity Intactness Index, we rank 189th out of 218 countries. That means that in 85% of the world’s countries where data is available, nature is doing better than it is in ours. The data is shocking, but the report is not all negative. There is a large focus on the things that we can do, some of them in our own gardens.

Join in the Count

The State of Nature report was made possible by tens of thousands of volunteers counting the wildlife they had seen in their garden. By making a note of any birds, butterflies and bees that you see in your garden and sharing your results with organisations such as the National Biodiversity Network, you will be helping to make ensure the accuracy of information.

Live Sustainably

Where possible, buy your food from local sustainable sources with good environmental records. Everybody would agree that year-round availability of asparagus is not worth hundreds of acres of Peruvian rainforest, but not everybody takes notice of the country of origin when they are buying asparagus in midwinter. Even better, why not create a kitchen garden and grow your own fruit and veg?

Befriend the Bees

Bees are fantastic pollinators of crops, but they need to be encouraged. They love a wildflower meadow, so you can make your garden bee friendly by planting giant thistle, borage and catnip. As a rule, bees and butterflies love purple: alliums, buddleia and lavender will have these endangered insects flocking to your garden.

If you would like to turn your garden into a nature friendly environment, but don’t know where to start, then you might want to take advantage of our full landscaping service. We can put in flowerbeds, ponds, patios and paths. You come up with the design and we’ll put in the heavy labour. Call us on 01603 360548 to make an appointment.

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