As the days lengthen and the temperature starts to rise, it’s time to think about any changes you want to make in your garden.
• Maybe you want to buy some seeds ready to grow some beautiful flowers in a pot, or in the garden. You could choose plants that pollinators love like lavender, borage, foxgloves or cornflowers.
• A herb garden can bring the dual benefit of tasty herbs for the kitchen and a buzz of insects around the flowers. Bees and butterflies absolutely love rosemary, thyme and oregano.
• Maybe you want to think about a succession of flowers from early in the year (snowdrops, primroses) right through to late autumn (sedum, mahonia).
• A native hedge is not only beautiful, but can also provide shelter and nesting places for birds and insects, as well as food over winter. Hawthorn berries are great food in the depths of winter.
February is a great time to get started if your wildlife project involves any digging or building, like a rockery or a pond. Even a tiny pond is great for wildlife in the garden – just make sure there’s a way out for anything that falls in! It doesn’t matter whether your project is big or small, our local wildlife will thank you for it all! If you need some inspiration, there are plenty of ideas to be found on the DWT website at www.devonwildlifetrust.org/wildlifegarden-award
We hope you will enter your project for the first ever Gardening for Wildlife award in Lympstone. The Garden Show this year is on Saturday 15th August, and you will find details in the Garden Show brochure, or you can email wildaboutlympstone@gmail.com for the criteria, or just to join our mailing list.
