(c) Jon Hawkins Surrey Hills Photography
Wild About Gardens
The Wildlife Trusts and the RHS set up Wild About Gardens to celebrate wildlife gardening and to encourage people to use their gardens to take action to help support nature. Many of our common garden visitors – including hedgehogs, house sparrows, starlings and beetles – are increasingly under threat.
But together we can make a difference!
Find out how you can get involved and pledge to take a slug and snail safari on the Wild About Gardens website.
Let's invite wildlife back
Wild About Gardens celebrates wildlife gardening and aims to encourage people to use their gardens to take action to help support nature.
This year we’re asking gardeners to make friends with molluscs. Find out more about the benefits of slugs and snails in gardens by downloading our Making Friends with Molluscs booklet below.
Actions you can take
· Provide shelter: Create habitats for slugs and snails by leaving log piles, mulch, and natural debris in garden areas. These spaces offer shelter and a food source for these creatures, and it may make them less likely to venture out into your vegetable bed.
· Selective planting: Choose plants that are less attractive to slugs and snails or are more resilient to their feeding habits, such as lavender, rosemary, astrantia, hardy geraniums, hellebores and hydrangeas.
· Barriers: Implement barriers – such as copper tape and wool pellets – which may provide some protection for vulnerable plants from slug and snail damage.
· Handpick and monitor: Regularly inspect plants for signs of slug and snail damage, and manually remove any you find, relocating them to your compost heap or areas with less vulnerable plants. Consider evening patrols with a torch, as slugs and snails are most active at night-time.
· Encourage predators: Create a haven for natural predators of slugs and snails, such as ground beetles, song thrushes, frogs, and toads, by providing suitable habitats, such as long grass, log piles and wildlife-friendly ponds. Predators help to naturally regulate slug and snail populations, keeping their numbers in balance.
Our guide to making friends with molluscs
Wildlife gardening
Private gardens make up 20% of our cities. A garden or yard is a valuable home for wildlife by night and day, and is also a vital refuge for many kinds of wildlife.
That's why they're so important, providing space for wildlife and forming links between larger green spaces to make wildlife corridors.
Betony at Upwood Meadows June - c. Robert Enderby
Support our work
Did you enjoy your visit? From donating to volunteering, there are many different ways you can help us restore and protect local wildlife. We can't do this without you!