Wilder Kent Blog

Learn more about the wildlife and wild places in Kent and beyond.

Talk on the Wild Side

Conservation Management at Scotney Castle and Gardens

Join Rob Smith as he walks around Scotney Castle and Gardens learning how the team here are managing the land for nature whilst welcoming 180,000 visitors a year. Scotney manages 788 acres of land with 30 acres just dedicated to formal gardens and 300 acres designated as a SSSI.

Species Gardening with wildlife, snail on gardening gloves with pot plants behind
Tom Marshall

Slugs & snails: Part of a garden ecosystem

I have to admit how little I knew about slugs and snails before reading the latest Wild About Gardens guide. The RHS and The Wildlife Trusts have given these incredible creatures a reputation makeover. Discover for yourself these magnificent molluscs and the benefits they bring to our gardens.

Wildlife Gardening

Homes for bees and bugs

Seeing and hearing bees and other insects in our garden is one of the joys of spring and summer. Recently Peter and Penny have been delighted by solitary bees nesting in their bug homes. Here they share their experience of what did and didn't work to encourage bees and bugs to their garden, and offer some handy tips ahead of National Insect Week.

Wildlife Gardening

Making A Mini-Meadow

Penny and Peter were inspired to create a patch of wilder lawn about fifteen years ago when they first noticed the leaves of a common spotted orchid in the grass at the bottom of their garden. In this blog, they share their practical experience of turning that part of their lawn into a mini-meadow.

Wildlife Gardening

Sourcing Bee-friendly Plants

It’s a gardener’s greatest joy, to watch the bees visit their flowers in the spring and to hear the loud buzzing of summer all around. Sadly, supporting our bees is not as straight forward as planting lots of lovely flowers.