Eco Living

Wildlife Friendly Gardening

With the weather this summer looking promising there is no better time to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in to a bit of gardening. If you also like the idea of doing your bit for the environment, but aren’t sure how, then your garden is one of the best places to start. Which is why Dorset Wildlife Trust are promoting wildlife friendly gardening.

Why is wildlife friendly gardening important?
British garden acreage actually totals an area 5 times the size of all the country’s nature reserves and national parks added together. Climate change is a real threat to Dorset’s wildlife and, by providing food and water all year round, gardens can provide an important safe haven which could help many species survive.

Ponds in particular are under threat in the countryside, fast making the estimated 2 million nationwide garden ponds the main haven for frogs, toads and newts. Even if your garden isn’t big enough for a pond, a small permanent area of water can make an important difference to many animals.

How to become a wildlife friendly gardener
Wildlife Friendly Gardening can be as simple as having a bird bath or bat box. Or why not create a compost heap or wild flower meadow? It doesn’t matter how big or small your garden is - you can still make a valuable contribution towards conserving Dorset’s wildlife, as well as getting a bit of exercise and spending some time in the sun.

The good news for gardeners is that you can be a bit less tidy without your garden looking messy – pile up your logs and sticks in a corner for a wonderful insect habitat, leave your annuals with their seed heads over winter before cutting them down (goldfinches love them and they are beautiful in the frost) and an area of long grass cuts down on the mowing.

The Wildlife Friendly Garden Award Scheme

Dorset Wildlife Trust runs a Wildlife Friendly Garden Award Scheme, the very first of its kind in the UK. Why not join and earn yourself a plaque to display on your gate or in your garden to show all your hard work and encourage your neighbours to do the same in their gardens? You just need to provide photographic evidence of your garden’s wildlife friendliness. Full details of the criteria and more information about wildlife gardening can be found on their website at www.dorsetwildlife.co.uk/wildlife-gardening

Source 1: Article and images from Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Interested in submitting an article feature with Precious Dorset? More Info