Notes From my garden

Alexandra Campbell looks at how we can all contribute to protecting biodiversity, especially in winter.

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I RECENTLY went to a press conference at the Royal Horticultural Society.

They would like the UK’s 30 million gardeners to focus on being eco-friendly and doing everything we can to help biodiversity.

The UK has only 53% of its biodiversity left, so we must act to protect our animals, birds, insects and micro-organisms.

The RHS is 100% peat free across all its gardens.

At its shows, it has banned single-use plastics and artificial grass, and is working towards using only renewable energy.

It urges gardeners to plant hedges, trees and plants for pollinators, and to consider a plant’s water demands before buying it.

In the past decade, many of us have adopted the US tradition of winding strings of festive garden lights all over porches, trees and outbuildings at Christmas.

However, artificial lighting can disturb the sleep or growing cycles of both plants and animals.