Introducing Wildife to the Harrogate Flower Show
Recently I have been busy designing a wildlife garden with the support of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust to be displayed at this year’s Harrogate Flower Show. The sustainability theme of this year’s show provided the Trust with the perfect opportunity to provide achievable ideas in garden sustainability and wildlife gardening to an interested public.
Why are Wildlife Gardens Important?
Wildlife gardens play an important part in conserving Britain’s native wildlife by providing corridors linking urban, suburban and rural areas allowing wildlife to move from one environment to another. As a local garden designer that specialises in wildlife gardening and real nature enthusiast I was excited to get involved.
I carefully encompassed a mixture of recycled and renewable goods into the design of the garden and sourced plants from local suppliers ensuring the garden kept to an environmentally friendly brief. Creating a mixture of habitats was key to my design so as to attract a varied wildlife including birds, invertebrates and small mammals. Attracting bees, which are considered to be the cornerstone of sustainable gardens by pollinating flowering plants and enabling the life cycle of the garden to continue, was also essential. Certain design features that I have added to ensure a wildlife friendly garden includes a log pile which doubles up as the back of a bench providing the perfect habitat for invertebrates and fungi. Above the logs a green roof has been constructed to keep them dry and in a condition to be used in a wood burning stove later in the year. In turn the green roof has been designed to feed water into a recycled old dolly tub which is doubling up as a water butt ensuring water conservation in the garden.
An artistic flare is incorporated into the garden with the help of a ‘bee’ mosaic created by Emma Abel of Abel Mosaics; Emma strives to use recycled materials in her work wherever possible. A water feature has also been fashioned by designer Suzanne Dekker using reclaimed glass with a leaf print from a shower, material that would otherwise have ended in landfill.
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are hopeful that visitors to the Harrogate Flower show this year will be inspired by my garden and begin to incorporate wildlife friendly features into their gardens at home.The Trust works to encourage its members to make the most of their garden’s providing advice through publications, events and talks.
If you are planning on visiting the Harrogate Flower Show later this week please do swing by, I would be delighted to answer any questions about the garden, and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust publications and information will be available to take away.
Now fingers crossed for a sunny few days!
Breaking news: The garden has been awarded the gold award at the Harrogate Flower Show 2011! Make sure you don’t miss it – the show is now open to the public (14th – 17th April).
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