Biodiversity for the gardener

Biodiversity is a word that we hear a lot but at home garden level it is interesting to consider what it means and how it impacts us day-to-day. The World Wildlife Organisation tells us it is “all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world.” In gardening we can all do our bit. One of the problems is the disconnect between habitats particularly in built up areas so even small growing spaces help.

Top tips

• Try and cope with common enemies like slugs and snails without resorting to pesticides –these all help to maintain the biodiversity and provide vital food for some birds and hedgehogs for example.

• Plant a tree – even in a pot. I think there is a tree for every space so take a look later in the article for ideas for containers.

• Plant pollinator-friendly plants.

• Add water to your garden – I love a wildlife pond and it doesn’t have to be too big.

• Lawns aren’t all bad – why not try ‘no mow’ May this year?

• Hedgehog highways – did you know a hedgehog can travel around a mile a night?!

• Feed the birds especially in winter.

• Have a wild patch – if you have a big enough garden let a part grow wild, sow a wildlife meadow or have a pile of logs as a ‘bug hotel’ in a small area.

Trees for pots

• Ginkgo biloba – the maidenhair tree is one of the oldest living tree species, lovely in a pot and great autumn colour.

• Fruit trees can do well iespecially apples (e.g. ‘Discovery’ AGM) and pears (e.g. ‘Concorde’).

• Acers - Japanese maples have many smaller forms, with the advantage that you can have the right acidic soil in a pot even if your garden soil isn’t. There’s a fabulous array of leaf colours to choose from.

• Dwarf flowering cherries e.g Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ which flowers in early March.

• Citrus trees which otherwise wouldn’t grow in this climate, in a container can be moved inside in winter.

You will need to care for the container tree: water it regularly and in spring take of 5cm of compost from the top and replace, and feed it with a fertiliser. At some point over the years it will become impractical to repot it so instead rootprune it in spring replacing the compost.

Go wild in the garden and have some fun!

© 2023 Karen Roberts Garden Design