Encourage wildlife and do your bit for the environment by improving biodiversity in your garden with these simple and effective tips from gardener, author and teacher Sarah Raven
A DIVERSE PLANTING SCHEME SUCH AS THE ONE AT PERCH HILL WILL ENCOURAGE BOTH INSECTS AND BIRDS. IMAGE: JONATHAN BUCKLEY
In recent years, concern has been growing about the alarming decline of pollinators and other wildlife species in the UK, spurred by climate change, habitat destruction, and urban expansion. According to the latest WWF Living Planet Report, global wildlife populations have plummeted by 69% on average since 1970. This stark statistic underscores the need for immediate action to protect and restore biodiversity – even at a local level, such as in our own gardens.
While large-scale efforts are crucial, individual gardeners have the power to make a difference by fostering biodiversity in their own plot. Gardens, no matter how small, can serve as refuges for pollinators, birds, amphibians, and other wildlife.
Inspired by her own experiences at her home Perch Hill, Sarah Raven has spent years experimenting with ways to encourage biodiversity and transform gardens into thriving ecosystems.
“If you’re yet to venture onto the path of sustainability, these are my recommended steps that all gardeners should take,” says Sarah. “Make sure you are doing four or five of these steps right now and aim to add one or two every six months or so. If you really want to make an impact, go the whole hog straight away and adopt all ten.”
1. Stop using chemicals
Try to avoid using chemicals to mitigate pests and weeds. As we all know, insecticides are there to kill, and it’s unwise to use herbicides and fungicides as these heavy chemicals will wipe out microorganisms below ground.
At Perch Hill, we haven’t used chemicals in 30 years and use physical barriers against slugs and snails in a wet year and have found they work well. Strulch (a form of rough-cut straw), a moat of wool pellets, or a good 15cm zone of enclosing grit makes the world of difference when reducing damage from slugs and snails. Companion planting is also an effective way to manage pests. We underplant tomatoes with basil, roses with small-leaved salvias, summer savory under broad beans, and our lupins grow through a sea of tagetes which deters the aphids, so they don’t then overwinter to feast the following spring.
2. Go peat-free
Peat is a valuable carbon sink in the wild, and peat-based compost destroys that sink and adds additional carbon to the atmosphere, so it’s important to steer clear. More and more successful alternatives are in production, including composted bark that has less of a carbon footprint than coir.
THE RAISED POND IN THE DUTCH GARDEN AT PERCH HILL. HERE, SARAH HAS ALSO USED IT AS A PRETTY DISPLAY FOR CUT DAHLIA HEADS. IMAGE: JONATHAN BUCKLEY
3. Just add water
Now is a great time to get ahead and implement water storage solutions to keep your garden hydrated and happy throughout next summer. Providing sources of shallow water for bees and birds is also invaluable.
I love to sit and watch our water feature, an old, repurposed animal water trough with a 10cm flattened edge. Different bird varieties use it to wash and drink, and bees, wasps, and butterflies fill the edges in a hot day, drinking away.
If you’ve got room for a pond, add one. There’s almost nothing better for biodiversity than having a shallow-edged pond, and you’ll have frogs and toads that will munch away happily on your slug population. There’s nothing they love more.
4. Forget immaculate gardening
Rrethink your traditional manicured garden look and allow your borders, plants, and hedges to become looser and free flowing. This will enable more wildlife to live there, with you, and thrive. Link up with your neighbours and encourage them to create wildlife corridors, linking garden to garden.
COPPER BIRD FEEDER, AVAILABLE TO BUY FROM SARAHRAVEN.COM. IMAGE: JONATHAN BUCKLEY
5. Feed the birds
At Perch Hill, we grow plenty of seedy plants, such as panicum miliaceum ‘Violaceum’, and use bird feeders, but only put out as much food at once as they can consume in a few days, and don’t forget to clean feeders before refilling. This simple step limits the spread of devastating parasitic diseases, that affect much-loved greenfinch, chaffinch, and garden tits.
Providing garden birds with sustained meals couldn’t be easier. Adding roses that form hips is an excellent choice, along with planting a myrtle bush for dunnocks, bluetits, and gold finches to feast away. Instead of cutting back brambles and hedgerows, allow these to flower and fruit, and of course, hawthorn and crab apple are always firm favourites. And remember, the more birds you have in your garden, the less slugs!
6. Introduce early flowering plants
In the UK, we’ve wiped out almost all our flowery meadows which have traditionally provided forage for birds, butterflies, and bees. Gardening to replace those lost plants with varieties that will bloom in February and March will ensure birds and pollinators have access to food. Varieties such as iris
(reticulata) and polyanthus are all good choices, followed by single dahlias and salvias, which flower later in the year. Why not create a chart to ensure you have a succession of flowering plants throughout the entire year?
EARWIG HOUSES PROVIDE HIBERNATION AND ARE ALSO USEFUL FOR PROTECTING DAHLIAS FROM DAMAGE. IMAGE: JONATHAN BUCKLEY
7. Look after your earwigs
Whatever you do, don’t kill earwigs as they will take care of sap-sucking aphids. At Perch Hill, we create earwig houses using small upturned terracotta pots stuffed with straw on top of a cane to give them a place to hibernate. They are also useful for protecting dahlias from damage in the summer months.
8. Consider a diverse range of plants
Wildlife thrives with a wide range of plants and structures – a tree, with a climber growing up it, a decent-sized shrub or two, perennial bulbs, and annuals, including grasses and grains.
It’s true that our native plants are valuable, but don’t worry too much about this. Insects and birds won’t avoid more exotic varieties if they have the right forage or protein-rich seed available. Like humans, pollinators also benefit from a varied diet.
A RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLY AND A BUMBLEBEE ON ECHINACEA PURPUREA ‘MAGNUS’. IMAGE: JONATHAN BUCKLEY
9. Reduce, reuse, recycle
Forget about purchasing brand-new things, and reuse what you already have. When applying this principle to the garden, it’s a lot more manageable than you might think. At Perch Hill, we now put many of our old empty plastic pots and polystyrene plant trays into the bottom of our whopper pots rather than the bin. They fill about a quarter to a third of the bottom of the pot, which we then cover with a layer of fleece, and then in goes the compost. This saves on the volume of compost required, plus it’s better for the environment and fine for the plants.
10. Make your own compost
Making your own compost is incredibly rewarding if you have the space, but if you’re short of room, what about a wormery or Japanese Bokashi kitchen composting system? Home made compost is excellent for soil health, and that’s the foundation of successful gardening.
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