Take a walk on the wild side at RHS gardens

To coincide with International Biodiversity Day on 22 May 2010, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is launching summer wildlife trails at each of its gardens to encourage the public to get out there identifying, monitoring, conserving and celebrating the astonishing variety of living things in our gardens.

Visitors to each of the four RHS gardens (Wisley in Surrey, Harlow Carr in Yorkshire, Hyde Hall in Essex and Rosemoor in Devon) will be able to see things that the RHS is doing to attract and nurture biodiversity, with plenty of ideas that they can take home to use in their own gardens.

The United Nations has proclaimed this year the International Year of Biodiversity, highlighting the importance of the Earth’s biodiversity and encouraging everyone to take action to safeguard all living things, whether they are plants, animals or micro-organisms. The RHS, an official partner in the UK Year of Biodiversity, regards gardens as increasingly one of the most important havens for wildlife. The garden trails will provide ideas on how best to encourage wildlife by providing plants which provide food, shelter and nesting and breeding sites.

At each garden a circular trail will be mapped out and visitors can take the self-guided tour at their leisure, making it a great way to see the gardens. Points of interest include ponds, compost heaps, log piles and hedges, which provide varied habitats for an array of wildlife. Visitors can learn how to make a success of home composting and how to make bug homes. And promoting biodiversity doesn’t have to be hard work – having even a small, low-maintenance area where you don’t cut the grass allows wild flowers to grow.

The trails are enjoyable for all the family, with plenty for children to spot and places to explore. A wide range of insects, birds, amphibians and other creatures make their homes in the rich environment of the RHS gardens. The Plants for Bugs research programme, currently running at Wisley, is investigating the role of native and non-native plants in increasing biodiversity in our gardens. Rosemoor is known for its dormice and bats. Hyde Hall has a healthy population of brown hares, as well as an array of birdlife including stonechats, which have been observed for the first time this year, kestrels and owls.

At Harlow Carr, bees will be feasting on the flowers and there will be beekeeping demonstrations from the Harrogate and Ripon Beekeeping Association. Biodiversity does not only cover animal life, but plant life too and the trail at Wisley highlights the importance of conservation of our cultivated plant heritage through its famous fruit collection which contains over 650 cultivars of apple, some known to date from the sixteenth century which is as far back as definite records go.

Andrew Halstead, Principal Entomologist at the RHS said: “Gardens offer very valuable wildlife habitats, particularly in urban areas. We want to encourage everyone to celebrate the sheer variety of living things around us and think about the ways they can encourage biodiversity in their own gardens.”

The trails will run throughout the summer at each garden, until the end of August.

For more information on the RHS events visit: rhs.org.uk/gardens