Best Garden Plants for Wildlife - take part in a new survey

One of the big questions in how to make your garden more wildlife-friendly is which plants should you grow.

There are plenty of lists out there, but rarely is there much evidence about where that advice comes from. So just how accurate is it?

Even in my RSPB Gardening for Wildlife book, I published a list of 400 plants to try, but they were based on just one man's observations - mine!

So I've worked with the wonderful Wildlife Gardening Forum to devise a survey which will seek to collate the observations of a host of people across the country.

And we'd like you to take part!

You'll need to have a working knowledge of garden plants, and be able to tell a hoverfly from a solitary bee from a honeybee. But, don't worry, you won't need to identify each and every species of hoverfly or bee! So some experience is required, but you certainly don't need to consider yourself to be an expert.

Basically, you'll be sent a list of plants that, at some time or other, have been claimed to be good for 'wildlife' and you'll rate those plants you are familiar with based on your own observations of wildlife. That last bit is critical: you will only base your ratings solely on first-hand experience, not hearsay or 'received wisdom'. The aim is to separate the facts from the myths!

You could do it based on the experience you already have, or you could get out in the garden over this spring and summer and make new observations. With your help, we think we can transform the advice available.

For all the information you need about how to take part, email us at survey@wlgf.org.

We ran a very small-scale pilot last year, for which the Top 10 for bumblebees were as follows, but what will the results be with a larger sample of observers? It will be fascinating to find out.:

• Marjoram

• Dahlia (single flowered varieties)

• Globe-thistle

• Viper's Bugloss
• Eryngium 'Mrs Willmott's Ghost
• Rosa moyesii
• Rosemary
• Goat Willow
• Sage