At RHS Chelsea Flower Show this year, nature definitely took centre stage! As well as providing lots of inspiration for gardeners to create beautiful spaces, there were so many great ideas for how to bring more nature into your garden and protect wildlife.
- Make bird boxes a permanent feature of your garden
- The RSPCA Garden, designed by Martyn Wilson, featured bird nesting boxes built into a stone feature wall. Some of the nesting boxes were clustered together for house sparrows who like to nest in groups.
- Bird observation areas
- Whether it is a purpose-built wildlife observation hide, or a quiet corner of your garden tucked away in the trees, adding a space for you to sit and observe the wildlife that visits your garden will provide you with so much joy and a peaceful space.
- Use gabions as bug hotels
- Gabions are metal mesh cages or boxes usually filled with stones and rocks that are used in landscaping to create walls and structures. You can make these more wildlife friendly by filling them with sticks, logs, moss and bamboo to create a permanent bug hotel.
- Create a canopy of trees and hedging for birds
- Tall trees and hedging is so important for shelter and habitats for birds and wildlife. Make sure you're helping the birds that are nesting in your hedges by making the Peckish Hedge Pledge.
- Incorporate water into your garden design to provide a constant source of fresh water for wildlife
- Either a wildlife pond, water feature with fountain, or bird bath is a brilliant addition to your garden and is so important to provide drinking water for birds and other wildlife so they stay hydrated!
- Choose nature friendly plants
- Pollinator friendly plants will attract bees and butterflies into your garden, and leaving flowerheads such as sunflowers to go to seed will provide more food for birds.
- Living roofs
- Green or living roofs provide even more space for plants, and if you feature wildflowers and let them grow long, can provide even more habitat and food sources for wild birds and insects.
