When we first began to plan the IOE Gardens we invited several experts who could
advise on different aspects of 'urban gardening for biodiversity' to visit our
site. One message we picked up time and again was that if we designed a garden
that would attract bats, we would be getting things right for the birds, bees
and butterflies too. My list of plants recomended by the Bat Conservation Trust has become rather tatty over the last few months, but wherever possible we've sourced trees, shrubs, herbs and flowers from the list. Our first bees were spotted in the garden way back in February when we had just a few wallflowers starting to bloom in our only planter that had soil in it so far. It turned out that there are two bee hives on a nearby roof, so that was an easy box to tick. Spotting a Red Admiral and a Peacock butterfly during March was another treat, and the discovery that Kestrels nest on the roof of our building was exciting, though admittedly it was no doubt the building itself that attracted them, not the new garden. But the evening last week when I was explaining to a late visitor to the garden that we'll know we are getting things right when we see our first bat....and was promptly interrupted by a lone bat quartering over the garden ponds to scoop up the crowds of insects milling above them...was an unexpected delight. This is the sort of event that I'm sure will make us all forget those back-breaking winter Saturdays spent carrying timber and soil up to the roof!
advise on different aspects of 'urban gardening for biodiversity' to visit our
site. One message we picked up time and again was that if we designed a garden
that would attract bats, we would be getting things right for the birds, bees
and butterflies too. My list of plants recomended by the Bat Conservation Trust has become rather tatty over the last few months, but wherever possible we've sourced trees, shrubs, herbs and flowers from the list. Our first bees were spotted in the garden way back in February when we had just a few wallflowers starting to bloom in our only planter that had soil in it so far. It turned out that there are two bee hives on a nearby roof, so that was an easy box to tick. Spotting a Red Admiral and a Peacock butterfly during March was another treat, and the discovery that Kestrels nest on the roof of our building was exciting, though admittedly it was no doubt the building itself that attracted them, not the new garden. But the evening last week when I was explaining to a late visitor to the garden that we'll know we are getting things right when we see our first bat....and was promptly interrupted by a lone bat quartering over the garden ponds to scoop up the crowds of insects milling above them...was an unexpected delight. This is the sort of event that I'm sure will make us all forget those back-breaking winter Saturdays spent carrying timber and soil up to the roof!