THE villages of Carhampton and Blue Anchor near Minehead held their first ever ‘Wilder Open Gardens’ weekend in July in order to share approaches to creating wildlife-friendly garden habitats.

While the size, style and content of the gardens varied widely, all the gardens provided vital wildlife support.

Key features were year-round food and shelter for birds, small mammals and the multiple invertebrates which make up the basis of our ecosystem, with a strong focus on nectar- and pollen-rich flowers as well as seeds, berries and – crucially – detritus such as log and leaf piles for the many creatures which help to break down organic matter and enrich our garden soils.

Wildlife ponds, with sloping access for drinking, were a feature of many gardens, as was year-round ground cover in some areas of the garden, to provide summer shelter and winter hibernating sites.

The event was a joint initiative by West Somerset Wildways (part of Somerset Wildlife Trust’s ‘Wilder Coast’ project, funded by the HPC Community Fund and the National Lottery Community Fund’s Climate Action Fund) and Carhampton Climate Group.

“There are so many ways in which we can support wildlife in our gardens without detracting from the pleasure we get from them,” said Elizabeth Atkinson of West Somerset Wildways.

“A pollen-rich garden that attracts hoverflies and ladybirds, for example, will have natural predators for aphids, while the hoverfly and ladybird larvae and other invertebrates are for food for birds, bats and hedgehogs.

“We hope other towns and villages will want to follow suit and open their own wildlife-friendly gardens to visitors: with an estimated 124,500 private gardens in Somerset, there is so much that could be done to enhance and connect garden wildlife habitats across the county.” 

For more information, search online for Wilder Open Gardens and the Wildlife Trust/Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Wild About Gardens’ initiative.

For local support within West Somerset, contact Elizabeth at wswildways@somersetwildlife.org.