Protect our biodiversity - go wild in the garden!

By

Fanny Laemmel

The number of creatures in the world has been falling fast for the past half-century. Whole species are disappearing, mostly due to people and what we do to our planet. This year, 2022, world governments are preparing to do more stop "biodiversity loss". But you can do something about it too, without even leaving home...

In the WoW! News app this week, we meet Gaby. She's an expert in gardening and especially how to help insects - and all our diversity of life on the planet - through how we look after our gardens or window-boxes.

Tip 1 : Plant local! Fancy exotic plants can look tempting to us at the garden centre. But they're a mystery to our local bugs and won't help them. A Chinese butterfly bush may attract Chinese butterflies - but that's not much good if you don't live in China. In northern Europe, Gaby's favourites include ivy, hawthorn and dogwood - they produce flowers in spring to delight our native bees and fruit in autumn for local birds. And they're easy to grow. If you've got a window-box, Gaby suggests planting daisies, scabious (also known as pincushion) or yarrow. Let us know if you've got a favourite that pleases birds and insects where you are!

Tip 2: Stop mowing! Do your parents like a lovely, close-cropped lawn? Then it might be tricky - but perhaps you can persuade them. Gaby says letting grass grow, no shorter than 10 cm, will naturally encourage a host of flowers to grown across the law - dandelions, daisies and poppies, for example. You can hear the bees go 'Yum'!

Tip 3: If you grow vegetables at home, think about letting some of them go wild, without picking them. Their flowers and then their seeds will provide a feast, not for you, but for the birds and bees. And you can always collect some seeds for yourself, to plant next year.