How to make a coastal garden
Coastal gardening can be a challenge, but with the right plants in the right place, your garden and its wildlife visitors can thrive.
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Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
Chwilio
Small teasel
A prickly, tall plant, the Small teasel is closely related to the Common teasel, but has much smaller, more rounded flower heads. It prefers damp, open woodlands.
Green elf cup
A beautiful, tiny fungus, green elf cup can be commonly found on the decomposing wood of deciduous trees in woods, parks and gardens.
Autumn
There is plenty of wildlife to see in autumn. This is a time of nature's plenty, with a wonderful hedgerow harvest of blackberries, rose hips, crab apples, hazelnuts and seeds. Have a look at our top autumn wildlife.
Lesser centaury
Often overlooked, Lesser centaury is a tiny plant of grassy, open habitats like dunes, cliffs, heaths and grasslands. As its name suggests, it is much smaller than its relative, Common centaury.…
Mistletoe
Kissing under the mistletoe is a much-loved Christmas tradition, making this plant familiar to us all. It actually grows as a parasite on trees - look for it hanging off branches in large balls…
Saw-wort
Saw-wort gets its common name from the serrated, saw-like edges to its leaves. It is a plant of unimproved hay meadows and woodland edges, its purple, thistle-like flowers appearing over summer.…
Spear thistle
A common plant of disturbed ground like roadside verges and field edges, the spear thistle has purple, fluffy flower heads that appear in summer. Its flowers attract insects and its seeds feed…
Heathland
Heathland is one of our most threatened wildlife habitats: they are wide, open spaces where gorse, bracken, heathers and grasses grow, and birch and pine trees are often dotted around.
Cattle egret
This small, white heron is an increasingly common sight in parts of the UK as it spreads north from continental Europe.
My reward
Carole has been volunteering at Idle Valley for seven years now; whilst she used to get involved with the heavy work out on the reserve, the garden is now her domain, working with the Recovery…
Grow your own oak tree
Even the mightiest oak starts with a tiny acorn!