Operation Wild Times

1 Jul 2014

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

So where do you even start! I have a packed week, sleepless nights and a walled south facing garden that is screaming out to be loved. Like a toddler, our garden can get unruly if you do not pay attention to it. So where do you go for advice to control your unruly child/garden? Like parenting, you can turn to How To books, ask your own wise parents and even your friends and colleagues.

There are many perks to my job (doing my bit to save the planet for starters) but one of them that has been most helpful recently is picking the horticultural brains of some very knowledgeable folk around the office. It doesn’t stop there, with the launch of the RSPB Giving Nature a Home campaign – it feels as though the entire charity is aligned to helping me sort out my wildlife and family friendly garden.

Even more fortuitous is our own resident wildlife gardening expert, Adrian Thomas, is going through the same “tame your garden” parallel storyline. I should admit that my storyline is a more sedate Last of the Summer Wine affair compared to Adrian’s epic Steven Spielberg adventure. But the theory still applies. I will be following the Giving Nature a Home FREE guide (OK so that is my only plug of the day) top ten tips:

Giving Nature a Home Step by Step Guide

Grow flowering plants
Invest in a tree or shrub
Give your mower a rest
Make dead wood piles
Make a pond
Feed the garden birds
Build a wildlife shelter
Create nature corridors
Be green when you garden
Tell us what you have done

So first things first, the way I see it is we need a plan of campaign for “Operation Wild Times”.

Phase 1: Know your garden (and you)

□ Map out where the sun goes during the day and at different times of year.

□ Move structures around to free up valuable south facing wall.

□ Get things moving and pop in feeding station for your wildlife.

□ Be inspired by your surroundings and make it personal.

□ Start designing your new homes for wildlife (and your family).

What is great about this is our Little Chief could get involved from Day 1. We are not talking about the make it a chore/ get a sticker for the sticker chart kind of vibe. We are talking about good old fashion quality family time in the Great Outdoors. Be inspired by what is around you, turn off the TV and do something more interesting instead (#kidoftheeighties). Trust me we had great fun going for mini adventures and seeing what our garden could be like and here are some of the pictures we took along the way. I highly recommend it.

Woodlouse hunting out-the-back