With wild habitats at risk, bees and other pollinators need us to provide a food source in our gardens, balconies, allotments and community outdoor spaces.

Several SWT staff members have got their whole street involved and explain how they did it...

Kirsty Porter - Bookham

How to get started

I live in a really friendly street in Bookham. Before lockdown, we already did a monthly litter pick and other activities together, so I asked my neighbours if they were interested in growing wildflowers on the verge outside their houses.

I formed a WhatsApp group and got nine positive responses, so we were off. We marked out an area for each house - we mow our own verges, so we didn’t need permission from the council. 

Meanwhile, I had become aware of the Bookham Blue Hearts Wildflower Verges Facebook group and got in touch with them. Their experience really helped.

We got a stock of blue heart signs and the children decorated them. We bought plug plants from the garden centre and people transplanted wildflowers from their back gardens.

Show it's deliberate

The response has been very positive. People want to do something and they respond better to a message from a neighbour than to ‘official’ information. They don’t want a mess in front of their house, but they love the idea of planting flowers – and by adding blue heart signs show that it’s deliberate. You just have to set expectations – a cornflower meadow won’t spring up overnight.

Take it steady

We’re planning to dig ponds and cut holes in fences for hedgehogs, but I think the secret is to pick one thing to start with. Somebody has to get it started – and it might as well be you!

Louise Shorthose - Epsom

Enjoy the results

I live on a cul-de-sac in the centre of Epsom. The residents range from young families to senior citizens in their nineties. During lockdown the street caught the bug for wildlife because of The Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild campaign. People discovered so much wildlife in the street that they never knew was there, including foxes, hedgehogs, bats and a range of birds including woodpeckers and herons. When a strange creature was spotted in a garden late one night, my neighbour invested in a nightcam and discovered a badger. When another

neighbour opened her letter box one day, she was surprised to discover a bird’s nest with chicks inside.

Knowledgeable neighbours

During lockdown people were keen on growing vegetables and flowers, and sharing plants and wildlife gardening advice. I became the go-to person for identifying wildlife sightings, droppings and plants on our WhatsApp group. Someone else became the vegetable guru.

Growing wild

Many people left parts of their gardens to grow wild, leaving long grass where poppies or weeds began to grow and made the garden look pretty. People were fascinated by the butterflies, stag beetles and skins left behind by dragonflies.

Friday social

And on a Friday night we would sit round in the street with a socially distanced G&T to discuss the progress of our veg and our latest wildlife discoveries.