On Home Turf

In the race to save the planet, where better to start than your own backyard, where small changes can make a big difference.

- Dave Goulson

Spring has arrived and my garden is buzzing with life. The dandelions, daisies, bugle and speedwell are blooming in my unmown lawn. Petals are drifting down from the cherry and apple trees, and red mason bees are busy gathering the last of the fruit tree pollen to stock their nests in my various home-made bee hotels. The comfrey patch has just come into flower and is swarming with fluffy yellow-faced male bumblebees, while an orange-tip butterfly quarters the garden in search of a mate. Among the medley of bird song and sparrow chatter, the stubbornly incessant chant of a chiffchaff stands out.

I’m very lucky, for I have a large garden in rural Sussex, with room for two ponds, seven compost heaps, a small wildflower meadow and an orchard, fruit and veg patches, flowerbeds, log piles, brash piles, dozens of bee hotels and more. I’ve spent the last six years trying to turn it into an oasis for life of all types, but particularly for the little creatures, the worms, butterflies, bees, beetles, woodlice and springtails. My garden isn’t particularly tidy, but it is colourful, productive, and teems with life – a miniature jungle in my own back yard.

Of course, most people do not have a big garden, and you might think that there is little you can do for nature in your own patch, but take heart, for even tiny gardens can brim with life. With just a little help, any garden can become an oasis for insects.