Resources for Rewilding your Garden
There are lots of great resources available from organisations with excellent wildlife gardening websites. Here are some of my favourites:
RSPB
With a main focus on birds the RSPB website is an excellent resource on all aspects of gardening for wildlife
My top three large charities
Wildlife Trusts
Loads of wildlife gardening tips and habitat creation ideas
RHS
Tips and guidance on wildlife friendly gardening
My top 3 websites from smaller organisations
Little Green Space
Inspiring green living and environmental action
Wildlife Gardening Forum
Raising awareness of the environmental benefits of gardening for wildlife. Lots of tips and gardening science
Rewild my Street
Design-led guidance for people wishing to adapt their homes, gardens and streets to encourage wildlife
Some of my favourite websites of organisations with a focus on a particular set of species or habitat
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Information and practical guidance on gardening for bumblebees
Butterfly Conservation
Tips and ideas on gardening for butterflies
Plantlife
An organisation focused on protecting wildflowers and plants. Information on gardening for wildflowers
Hedgehog Street
An organisation focused on protecting hedgehogs
British Dragonfly Society
Dragonfly and damselfly identification information as well as gardening to support dragonflies
A national wildlife charity focused on the conservation of amphibians and reptiles and the habitats they depend on
Connecting Wildlife and Wellbeing
The project is a partnership between the Railway Land Wildlife Trust and Common Cause Cooperative. Their work includes creating a wellbeing space at the entrance of the Railway Land, setting up a Wellbeing Hive of local green groups, developing opportunities for volunteering in nature-related projects, and working with allotment holders to support them to produce food in ways that are wildlife friendly.
If you have an allotment please complete their allotment survey
National woodland conservation charity with lots of great information on native trees and woodlands
Citizen Science projects and Monitoring Schemes
If you want to learn more about the wildlife sharing your garden there are many projects to become involved in. Citizen science projects rely on data collected by volunteers, in their own gardens or local area. The UK has a long history of monitoring schemes which enables species abundance to be tracked over time providing vital information to scientists.
https://www.thebuzzclub.uk A Citizen Science Club for gardeners.
https://gardenbutterflysurvey.org Garden Butterfly Survey
https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw Garden Bird Watch
https://www.bats.org.uk/our-work/national-bat-monitoring-programme/surveys/sunset-sunrise-survey Bat Survey
https://ukpoms.org.uk UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme – not necessarily in garden
https://www.npms.org.uk National Plant Monitoring Scheme – not in garden
https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org Big Butterfly Count every May.
https://bsbi.org/garden-wildflower-hunt Now finished
ID Apps
There are a wide number of Apps available which will either simply identify species or also record their presence to biological recording schemes. Available from your usual App store.
iRecord App enables you to get involved with biological recording. Contribute your species sightings with GPS acquired coordinates, descriptions and other information, thus providing scientists with important new biodiversity information that contributes to nature conservation, planning, research and education.
iRecord Butterflies App is a free app that will guide you through the identification of any butterfly that you see in the UK and allow you to add your sighting to millions of other valuable records that inform the work of Butterfly Conservation.
Leafsnap
Plantapp