Wildlife and the gardener

Make your garden count for wildlife

Globally, biodiversity is in decline but gardeners can play a role halting this trend. Whether at the individual level or collectively, gardens offer a wealth of habitats for wildlife.

Enter the Big Wildlife Garden competition

If you enjoy doing your bit for the wildlife in your garden, the Big Wildlife Garden Competition could be just up your street.

We’re searching for some of the best wildlife gardens in the UK. There are four categories and you can take part individually, as a community or as a business.

There are dozens of ways to encourage wildlife - from putting up an insect box to digging a pond or planting a bee-friendly border or a hedge, plus more ideas below.

The Big Wildlife Garden Competition is run by the RHS and The Wildlife Trusts and funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Defra.

Closing date: 20 May 2012

Do just one thing...

Everyone can make a difference - all we are asking you to do is just one thing. Lots of small steps could take us a long way forward in helping garden wildlife.

In just a couple of hours you could:

• Build a bee hotel
• Make a log shelter

In a weekend you could:

• Put in a pond
• Create a compost café

All year round:

• Go chemical free
• Catch the rain
• Recycle something

More ideas for what to do this month from the Wild About Gardens website.

What is the RHS doing?

In a recent survey for The Garden, 95 percent of readers saw themselves as ‘stewards of the environment’ and 96 percent considered it important that the RHS undertakes research into environmental aspects of gardening. So what is the RHS doing?

• The RHS Perfect for Pollinators logo/list
• RHS Plant finder topical essay “RHS Research into Plants for Biodiversity”
• RHS Biological Records Centre: We are keeping records of all naturalised and native flora and fauna from all RHS-owned properties. Our records date from the present time back to 1909.
• Moth light traps: We have run a Rothamsted light trap at Wisley Garden every night since May 1975. Long continuous runs of biological recording data such as this can show the effects that climate change is having on moth distribution, abundance and biodiversity.
• RHS policy on wildlife in the garden