Gardening for WIldlife

19/11/19 - Leaf blowers contributing to ‘insect armageddon’ and should be avoided, German government warnsLeaf blowers are fatal to insects and should not be used unless absolutely necessary, the German government has told citizens, days after a disturbing new report warned than an ongoing “insect armageddon” threatens all life on Earth.The often noisy gardening tools are heavily polluting and pose the “risk that small animals are absorbed or blown and thereby damaged”, the Ministry for the Environment said. It is the latest in a raft of measures taken by the German government to protect insect populations, after a 2017 study suggested that within 30 years flying insects had declined by more than 75 per cent in 60 of the country’s protected areas. The move follows a report from a top UK ecologist, published last week, which warned bugs are dying out eight times faster than larger animals, with 40 per cent of the roughly one million known insect species facing extinction as a result.

30/05/18 - How to rewild your garden: ditch chemicals and decorate the concrete To declare we are rewilding our garden, or window box, is probably a contradiction in terms and risks cheapening this important conservation concept. But there are principles of rewilding – stepping back and allowing natural processes to occur, and encouraging wild plants and insects – which we can all embrace. The most relevant rewilding idea for us urban beings? Let go, and reduce our micromanagement of whatever small patch of earth we own, rent or enjoy and influence.

Plant Diseases

29/12/17 - Gardens under threat from 'game changing' plant disease  A pest that can infect plants from lavender to cherry trees is of real and growing concern in the UK, say experts. Outbreaks of Xylella fastidiosa have caused widespread problems in Europe, wiping out entire olive groves. The Royal Horticultural Society says the disease could arrive in the UK on imported stock, threatening gardens. The European Commission has stepped up protections against the spread of Xylella, which can infect more than 350 different plants.

Bluebells

Sadly, our native bluebell is losing ground to an insidious competitor: the Spanish bluebell. Introduced by the Victorians as a garden plant, the Spanish bluebell has made it 'over the garden wall' and out into the wild. Here, it crossbreeds with our native plants and produces fertile hybrids with a mix of characteristics. How to tell the difference between a native bluebell and a Spanish bluebell

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs numbers have plummeted in the wider coutryside and our gardens are their last hope for them finding a habitat where they can thrive. BUT people are saying that they don't see the hedgehogs they used to in their own garden SO THEY NEED OUR HELP. Hedgehogs need to be able to travel freely between our gardens because they travel long distances each night to find enough food and water (and a mate in the spring). So stone walls and wooden fences need to have small holes at the bottom so the hedgehogs can get through. People of nearby Kirtlington have got together to enable large areas of the village to be accessible by hedgehogs.  We can feed them and very importantly provide them with water. We can also make sure that our ponds aren't hedgehog death traps - provide them with a beach or a log so they can get out if they fall in.  See the Hedgehog Street website to find out more about hedgehogs and what you can do to help them.

Bees

Bees are facing a "perfect storm" of multiple problems from pesticides, diseases, modern agriculture and climate change which have a combined effect over time of weakening bees and causing the dramatic collapse of colonies seen over the past decade. This is not just a problem for the bees but also for flowering plants and anyone growing food because in losing bees we are losing our main pollinators. Bees are not only vital for pollinating 75% of our food crops but they are also crucial for the survival of our wild plants which in turn provide food for insects, birds and other animals.

Neonicotinoid pesticides have been linked to this decline of bees and there are demands to see them permanently banned in the UK.

03/10/17 - How safe are Garden Centre plants? Nearly three quarters of the plants bought by the research team at the University of Sussex led by Professor Dave Goulson were tested positive for insecticides.  Worryingly, many of these plants – such as lavender, bergamot and honeysuckle – are sold as ideal for pollinators. “We bought flowering plants from a range of major outlets; Wyevale (the biggest garden centre chain in the UK), Aldi, B&Q and Homebase. We deliberately bought plants that are known to be attractive to bees and butterflies; most of them had a bee-friendly logo. We screened the leaves, pollen and nectar to see if they contained pesticides. We found that most of these plants contained a cocktail of pesticides, usually a mixture of fungicides and insecticides. Seventy six percent of them (22 out of 29) contained at least one insecticide, and 38 per cent contained two or more insecticides. One flowering heather plant contained five different insecticides and five different fungicides – a veritable toxic bouquet. 70% of the plants contained neonicotinoids (insecticides that are notorious for their harmful effects on bees.) These included the three neonics banned for use on flowering crops in the EU (for the technically minded, 38 per cent contained imidacloprid, 14 per cent contained thiamethoxam and one contained clothianidin)."

05/12/16 - Why is a banned pesticide that harms bees actually being used more? Scientists fear that neonicotinoid manufacturers are copying tobacco industry tactics in a bid to end the moratorium on this devastating chemical.
 
02/02/16 - Bumblebees Their Ecology and Conservation - A lecture given by Dave Goulson at the 2015 National Honey Show. The National Honey Show gratefully acknowledge the Nineveh Charitable Trust for their support and the sponsorship by BBWear.
 
 
29/08/14 - A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson 'A delicious revelation' A new book by an eloquent entomologist offers sobering truths about the natural world
 
18/05/13 - A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson Not just a story of decline, Goulson's book offers fascinating insights into the world of the bumblebee

15/03/13 - UK government's opposition to regulation is putting bees at risk Caroline Lucas - By failing to back EU proposals for a ban on pesticides, lawmakers have prioritised commercial interests over ecological wellbeing.

29/01/13 - B&Q and Wickes pledge to withdraw products harmful to bees  B&Q is banning a lawn grub pesticide which is the only product it sells containing imidacloprid, one of the neonicotinoid family of insecticides, and Wickes will later this year take off products containing the related thiamethoxam compound.

16/01/13 - Insecticide 'unacceptable' danger to bees, report finds.   Along with a third compound, clothianidin, these are the three neonicotonoids identified by the European Food Safety Authority as threatening serious damage to bees.

Campaigns to help bees

Garden Organic's Bee Heard Campaign and Friends of the Earth's The Bee Cause  submitted a combined petition of over 64,000 names to Number 10 on 29 January 2013. Download The Bee Cause '20 things you need to know about bees' booklet for more info and ideas, including bee-friendly plants and gardening.

Buy perennial and bedding plants marked with the RHS Perfect for Pollinators Trade Mark launched in 2011 after  Sarah Raven’s BBC2 programme ‘Bees, Butterflies and Blooms,

The WI's SOS for Honey Bees campaign was launched after a resolution calling on the Government to increase funding for research into bee health was passed at their 2009 AGM.