08/05/2026
David Attenborough's 100th birthday seems like a great day to celebrate the wildlife in our gardens. Have you watched the new Secret Garden series? Yes I know we don't all have massive riverside gardens like the first episode, but the second episode is a bit more realistic! Your own little garden may seem insignificant, but together our network of gardens in Devon and across the UK make up an enormous green space! This network is particularly vital in urban or suburban areas. Small decisions can really help to support nature. Here's a reminder of a few to get you started:
•Leave patches of lawn unmown, mow less often or reduce the amount of lawn you have altogether
•Install a small pond
•Leave a cluster of nettles, brambles or ragwort in a back corner
•Grow native and bee-friendly plants
• Resist plastic w**d membranes in favour of thick organic mulch
•Reduce the amount of paving or hard surfaces in your garden
•Leave dead wood in place or pile it up in a corner
•Leave water out for wildlife in dry weather but be sure to regularly clean any bird baths
• Leave hedges or large shrubs to grow during nesting season, even if they're starting to look untidy! The risk of disturbing nesting birds is too great
•Leave gaps under or between fences for hedgehogs to come and go - they have a huge range!
•Resist using slug pellets or rose spray! You're not just killing the bugs but also the birds that eat them. Feed and water plants well instead so that they're strong enough to resist pests. But remember, if your garden isn't being eaten, it's not part of the ecosystem!
•Dont use w**d killers, again you're putting the insects and birds and whole food chain at risk. Time to do some hand w**ding - or ask me to!
David says that the number of insects in Britain has fallen by a HUGE 60% since the year 2000. The best thing you can do to protect the wildlife you love like birds, hedgehogs and bats is to nurture the bugs and insects in your gardens through some of the actions above 🌱
