Gardening for Wildlife

Tall herb flood plains, chalk grassland, lowland neutral grassland, upland acid grasslands – every site will have its unique features: not least the resources available for meadow management: size, access, mechanical and financial constraints. Gareth can draw up a suitable management plan for individual sites, based on traditional meadow management regimes but adapted to the needs of each individual place – aesthetic, practical, financial, Gareth & his team have a proven track record in the establishment, management & maintenance of natural habitats.

Before switching careers to gardening back at the end of the 90’s, for over a decade Gareth worked as a botanical field surveyor and consultant ecologist. His knowledge of our native British flora comes from extensive surveys covering Exmoor’s grasslands, the Welsh uplands, the Somerset Levels, the Cambridgeshire fens to coastal salt marshes. A simple walk though can reveal what potential a routinely cut area of lawn may have as a wildflower meadow.

Whether simply encouraging birds into your garden or creating a wildflower meadow, Gareth can advise, establish and maintain habitats beneficial to wildlife in the garden. High maintenance utility lawns converted to wildflower meadows, supporting populations of Common Spotted, Twayblade and Pyramidal Orchid, old meadow grasses and a diversity of wildflowers can be achievable if you understand the site’s ecology. Below are a few pictures of the gardens, habitats, meadows and species Gareth and his team at Edwards Garden Design have designed, created, managed and maintained.