
Sustainable food growing
On this page you'll find useful tips on how to grow food in ways that help your community and the biodiversity around it
Build your own bug mansion and attract a multitude of creepy crawlies to your garden.
An average garden accommodates more than 2,000 different species of insect! Very few of these creatures cause significant damage to our prized plants, and there are many more insects that actually help us to control the ones that do! By providing the right habitats, we can greatly increase the number of ‘beneficial’ insects in the garden.
One way to increase the comfort of your patch for insects is to build them a bug mansion.
Some invertebrates like cool, damp conditions, while others prefer the sun. To cater for as many of them as possible, site the mansion where some of it will catch the sun, but the rest will be in the shade under a tree or near a hedge, for example. Choose a level, even surface to build it on – the mansion may end up fairly heavy, so it will need a firm base.
Why not plant some nectar-rich flowers in and around your bug mansion to provide food for butterflies and bees?
The basic framework is made of wooden pallets. Try to use recycled or reclaimed materials where you can. The mansion does not need to be more than five pallets high. If you place the bottom pallet upside down, this should create larger openings at the ends, which can be also be used for a hedgehog house. Although the structure should be stable, you might want to secure each pallet to the one below.
On this page you'll find useful tips on how to grow food in ways that help your community and the biodiversity around it
In this page you'll find an array of information to how to best help wildlife over the changing seasons each year
On this page you'll find exciting information on getting involved with citizen science project in your own home and community