No favourites – time to support all wildlife
It’s time now not to have favourites. All the creatures in our gardens have a role to play. 20 years ago if you went out for a drive your windscreen would be thick with bugs you’d killed, but how often to we need to clean those screens today? Perhaps we’re grateful for this but what about the animals and birds that were dependent on all those insects for food? Have they died out? Do you tip out the buckets of stagnant water or are you willing to leave them and let the larvae hatch?
Explore what you can do
Explore what you can do in your garden to encourage and support the wildlife in each of these categories. We will also explore natural ways of controlling pests through companion planting and other ways. Click through each of the categories below to find ideas, techniques and experience. We’ve checked out each of the resources we’ve shared. If you find something else you think would be useful, please post on our facebook page or send us an email with the link and your comments about what you got from the resource.
Where to start?
Stroud Nature have created a wonderful leaflet to help you on your way to becoming a Garden Guardian. It provides you with some basic information on what to think about and some ideas about what areas you can address in your garden. The Garden Guardians – original leaflet and the latest version Garden Guardian 2021 Interactive (new windows)- if you only use one resource look at these two publications and choose one. Both are brilliant put together by Stroud Nature.
To learn more on what you can do and how to do it then tap on an area below to access our curated content. We will be constantly building links to good practice as we tackle projects in our own garden and design the workshops. If you come across really good resources online please send us the link wildstroud@gmail.com with a comment about what you found good/useful.
If there isn’t a “find out more link” we’ve not yet found or published our research –
Think Water for Wildlife
We can provide essential water for wildlife in our gardens. This includes ponds for frogs, toads and newts, safe water for thirst bees, drinking water for hedgehogs and birds and so much more. Find out more…
Beetles and Bugs
Oh bugs and beetles, we really need them but it’s easy to start to be picky about which ones you want to have and which you don’t. The lily beetle is a good example of this however they are all insects and we need to learn to control them without chemicals that damage other insects Find out more…
Peat Free and Multipurpose Composts
When we want to pot something up or sow some seeds it’s become the common practice just to pop down to the garden centre and pick up a bag or two find out how to make your own peat-free soil and compost
All About Bees
These wonderful pollinators are endangered and we need to look after what we have left and to provide the habitats that allow them to recover. Do you know how many types of bee you have in your garden? find out more.
Looking after your soil
There has been lots in the press over the last year or so about how depleted agricultural soils have become. There are lots of things you can do in your gardens to look after your soil, whether it is a lawn, a flower border or vegetable patch. Find out more …
Are they really pests?
Recognising that many of us don’t want to start plants just to feed the slugs and snails there are some things you can do without using chemicals. Find out more…