My Wild Garden UK

Gardeners vs climate change.

Little steps by a lot of people can make a big difference 💪🌿

It’s easy to feel powerless against a global issue such as climate change. But don’t despair. As gardeners we can do our bit. Here are a few ideas:

🌍 Extend the planting season, as seasons start earlier and end later. Stock your plots with something that is in flower every month. We can help winter-active bumblebees by planting winter-flowering honeysuckle , and ivy bees by letting ivy mature to the flowering stage

🌍 Provide a reliable source of water with a pond or manage storm water by making a rain garden, to offer a lifeline to wildlife in extremes of flood and drought

🌍 Fully paved spaces can increase flood risk and make towns and cities hotter, so think about minimising hard surfaces in your space

🌍 Habitats are more resilient when they are well connected so think about how your space fits with others in the neighbourhood. Are there gaps in your fencing for hedgehogs to pass under? Could you replace your fencing with a hedge? Team up with neighbours to put up bee homes and bird boxes down your street

🌍 Contribute changes you’re seeing in your garden to national records through 'Nature’s Calendar' run by The Woodland Trust. This is how scientists can keep track of changing seasons and its impact on wildlife

Find more advice on our website: https://www.rhs.org.uk/wildlife/gardening-in-a-changing-climate

This isn't in Bristol, but we do love a positive wildlife news story :)

Kent: Butterfly 'extinct' for 60 years now breeding in woodland There have been 30 sightings of the large tortoiseshell butterfly in Kent woodland this year alone.

A wonderful transformation for a wonderful family! Here’s a garden we worked on in May, with the highlight being a clover lawn turf that ties everything together and provides a lovely space for the family to enjoy the surrounding planting.

Before we arrived, some large structures were removed, and our brief was to incorporate as many curves as possible to add dynamic interest to the garden. The surrounding plants are a mix of ornamental and productive species, including smaller fruit trees and bushes like the ever-popular thornless blackberries, along with clay-loving flowers. We also relocated as many existing plants as possible to support the wildlife already living there and added new hardy species that thrive in clay soil to create a more low-maintenance space.

Thank you so much for welcoming us so warmly, and for all the tea, biscuits, chats, laughter, and letting us hang out with the BEST dog.

It's shaping up to be a beautiful weekend! ☀️

The is the perfect excuse to spend 15 minutes outside soaking up the sunshine while helping to take nature's pulse. 💚

Will you be getting out for the Count? 👉 bigbutterflycount.org

We are always in awe when we catch sight of dragonflies and damselflies; it never gets old.

We're excited to be working with the Butterfly Conservation team to bring more wild spaces to schools around Bristol. More details on those projects as they develop, but here’s a glimpse of us geeking out at a school pond - including a shot where we witnessed a damselfly catch a small spider. Amazing!

This stunning little specimen is Dianthus armeria (Deptford pink), an endangered species protected and listed on the UK Plants Red List due to the decline in traditional grasslands. It's now only found in a few remaining pockets in southern England and Wales.

A drought-loving plant, it can be annual, biennial, or a short-lived perennial, thriving in the drier areas of your garden. We adore its little spotted-butterfly type blooms that attract pollinators.

Amazingly, we've spotted a few of these available at one of our plant nurseries and have had the chance to add them to several gardens this year.

🌱✨ What a difference a day makes! ✨🌱

Last month we put in some beautiful street planters filled with wildlife-friendly perennials as part of a city initiative. Our goal? To brighten up this busy public street for residents and workers alike!
A huge shoutout to the wonderful folks at Bristol Wood Recycling Project for crafting these gorgeous planters. They do amazing work, and we highly recommend checking them out! 🪵🌿

If you're a community project or business interested in greening up your space, no matter the size, drop us a message. Let's chat about how we can bring more support for nature to your area! 🌻💚

It's been a while since we shared a post about the bugs we've met! Photographing insects isn't easy, so hats off to all you macro photographers.

While most of these are from gardens, some are city-dwellers too. Check out the Bumblebee with a flower 'nosebag' that we spotted scurrying across the pavement in search of food. 🐝🌸

If you find a bee on the move like this, gently encourage them onto a leaf and place them on some bee-friendly flowers, like this lovely Campanula we found on a nearby wall. Let's all do our part to support our buzzing friends! 🌿💚

It's world environment day today so we thought we'd share the photos from our Wild Gardeners trip to Kew Gardens a couple of weeks ago, and it was an absolute delight! We had the most amazing time exploring the incredible variety of plant species. There's never enough time to take it all in.

The biodiversity in such a relatively small space is truly inspiring. It shows how we can support our wildlife with a diverse array of trees, plants and flowers, catering to all tastes. Great inspiration for your own garden!

We highly recommend a visit to Kew Gardens for anyone passionate about nature and gardening. 🌿🌸

The baby Blue t**s in my garden hopped out of their nest box yesterday - perfectly timed with an office based day, where I could watch them all day from my dining room windows.

It must be summer ☀️

Don't worry if you see young birds hopping around at this time of year, their ever diligent parents will be coming back to feed them, but will stay out of sight if you are close. In most cases when the little ones are feathered like this, they are ready to go out into the world.

Researchers have found that a herd of 170 bison reintroduced to Romania’s Țarcu mountains can help store CO2 equivalent to removing 43,000 cars from the road annually. These bison enhance carbon capture by promoting plant growth and soil health. This study, though not yet peer-reviewed, highlights the potential of rewilding as a climate solution.

Supporting nature’s balance through research and habitat conservation can amplify these benefits, demonstrating how reintroducing species can positively impact the environment and help combat the climate crisis.

Herd of 170 bison could help store CO2 equivalent of 43,000 cars, researchers say Free-roaming animals reintroduced in Romania’s Țarcu mountains are stimulating plant growth and securing carbon stored in the soil while grazing

We hope you've all managed to keep cool in the heat the last few days too! ☀️😎

Reclaimed planters can add an interesting feature to shady areas. They are also good to help control some of the more 'thuggish' plants that can take over smaller gardens like Periwinkle and Ivy, or for tucking in spring bulbs.

Also great for rental properties to take your plants with you if you move - just be prepared to remove the plants and soil when you do, that can be quite heavy work depending on the size and material of the container!

Containers need more water than when planting directly in the ground, so containers in full sun areas will need much more care and attention to keep them looking green and healthy than those in the shade. In all cases it's good to lift and divide, or prune back plants that start to smother each other every year or two.

One of our favourites is the barrel planter. These images are taken from an 'early buffet' planting area created to burst with colour at the start of spring, provide cover and help those first emerging pollinators find a snack.

I loved my years watching the cameras for BBC Springwatch. There certainly were some dramatic highs and lows and still i love to watch animals in nature, either out in the wild or from a place where i can take a peek into their lives without disturbing them like this.

The Hawk and Owl trust have a few we**ams setup - including for one of my absolute favourites, the Peregrine falcon.

Tomorrow their somerset Barn Owl live stream will be hosted, and looking at the post below there will be plenty of action to discuss!

Announcement: We are doing another one of our very popular Facebook live shows on the evening of Friday April 19th. This will be based at our Somerset Barn Owl we**am, there will be more detail as we approach the date, and at present we are thinking of starting at 19:30 BST. This will include a QnA, and discussion on the breeding season so far. Meanwhile things are hotting up at the Barn Owl nest with Owl intruders disturbing the incubating female. To see the live we**am go to https://hawkandowltrust.org/live-cameras/barn-owl-cam-live-somerset

Coming along nicely!

This is batch 2 of this years sowing, the others are already acclimatising under cover in the garden.

I'm glad we're into April because I'm running out of space.. 😅

The Bleeding Heart plant. While not native to our gardens and may not boast official wildlife-friendly credentials, its sheer beauty is undeniable.

We advocate for gardens built on harmony and balance, where the owners remain integral to that harmony. Don't feel constrained by preconceived ideas of how a wildlife garden 'should' look; it's all about finding that balance.

A well thought-out design incorporating habitat areas is still wildlife-friendly. Including a few ornamental species, provided they're not invasive, adds to the unique character of an outdoor space.

Embrace YOUR wild.

Last Saturday was truly delightful as we joined forces with a community project and their dedicated team of local volunteers to build a dead hedge in the park. Looking forward to our next session to finish the job!

We led a talk for the team on the benefits of the new habitat, and helped coordinate the group as we designed and built the structure.

It was a lovely way to spend the morning, we're thrilled with how much we got done and we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed and engaged in friendly conversations.

A special shout out to Harry for the biscuits!

Spring is here! We love plant shopping and this time of year always brings excitement of the plants we'll be adding to gardens ready for the season.

These are for a woodland edge garden, that has a mix of both shady cover and brighter sunny areas so we have a mix of spring bulbs in the green, ground covering superstars Ajuga and Dead nettles (they don't sting), geraniums, Creeping thyme, Red campion, Scabious, Lesser celandine and many more that aren't in these photographs.

There's a huge range of plants to suit shady gardens, sunny gardens and everything in-between. We do design and consultancy projects as well as full installations, drop an email if you'd like a no obligation chat to discuss how to support nature in your garden.

The apps that are available for wildlife identification are great for day-to-day IDs (we love them!), but there are times when a match can't be found.

Here's a solution for when that happens, and if you have the time afterwards to reupload to your ID app with species name, that helps to record data on the UKs wildlife.

Citizen science is so important, it allows us as residents to have some input into initiatives to help save, study, maintain and boost biodiversity - done by the people who have the widest stretch across our landscape, the UK public.

A BRILLIANT initiative here by The Royal Entomological Society

Are you having trouble identifying an insect? Stop the guesswork & get the answers you need with a free expert consult.

Fill out our ID form below & our knowledgeable staff will help you out 🦋

https://www.royensoc.co.uk/understanding-insects/identification-help/

Slugs attacking your seedlings indoors? While we don't mind when the outside comes inside, ensuring our indoor-raised seedlings thrive is a priority! Although we personally rely only on nature's balance with frogs and blackbirds in our gardens, copper tape can be a handy solution for protection when combined with indoor propagating equipment.

It's perfect for safeguarding delicate young plants on your conservatory or windowsill, as it lasts significantly longer when used indoors.

A good quality set of pruning shears can last a lifetime with a little TLC ✨

If your trusty tools have succumbed to rust, fear not. A simple solution of vinegar, oil and a little elbow grease can work wonders.

Soak the blades, then scrub with a flat scourer. Dry thoroughly, then apply a light coat of oil to prevent future rust.

Your shears will be ready to tackle the garden once again! 🌿✂️

While these blooms might be more of a 'snack' for bees rather than being the most nectar rich, they do still provide food for our native pollinators. And let's not forget their stunning appearance, adding a touch of elegance to any garden. Solomon's seal is a shade loving perennial to help brighten those darker corners of your garden.

Protect young shoots from slug damage by repurposing old bottles as simple and effective barriers in your garden.

Let's create spaces where bees feast and beauty flourishes! 🌿🌺

Blue t**s will start nesting towards the end of March - some a little sooner and some a little later.

Keep an eye out for them collecting materials around the garden, or taking up residence in your bird boxes.

If you'd like to help support the birds nesting in your area, leave pesticide free grass clippings, dead leaves and twigs around - and also avoid cutting back any large bushy plants or hedges.

**Spotlight Plant** The Wood Anemone is found mostly in old woodlands, and is loved by hoverflies. Keep an eye out as it is one of springs early bloomers.

We can plant these shade loving UK native plants in suitable gardens, they take a little extra care and attention to establish, but we can vouch for it being worth the effort.

There are small actions you can take to support bats in your garden/green space. Here are some spring tasks:
- Plant nectar-rich plants, trees and shrubs
- Build a pond or water feature.
- Join a local Bat Group to find out more about bats in your area

For more tips and ideas visit: https://buff.ly/2HkKSuq

Green walls are not always just green.

Sunny walls can bring a burst of colour to plain walls. This one was planted a few weeks before this photograph was taken last summer, and includes food for wildlife and people. The foreground is planted with pollinator friendly flowers that have immediate impact and will seed freely, and help to provide some cover while the climbing plants establish and weave their way around the trellis.

We can create a whole different variety of walls depending on your space - sunny, exposed, shady - there's always a way to paint nature into your life.

**Spotlight Plant** Our spotlight plant today is the humble Hyacinth, while we do have our own native species it is increasingly rare in the wild.

These little plants attract early pollinators and add a burst of dramatic colour that really pop when interplanted with bright yellow daffodils. They will pop back up each year to brighten up the end of winter.

We LOVE ferns, they can add evergreen interest and colour to shadier areas as well as being useful additions to bog gardens or wetter problem areas.

They're also amazingly versatile, we found these Polypody ferns growing on a tree and adding some green during the winter months to this old tree.

📢 7 days to go until begins! Don't forget to register and help us make it count: https://bit.ly/3tmK3eU 🐦