Jim Higham
Wild about Gardens - Amanda's experience
I’ve been volunteering with the Kent Wildlife Trust for a couple of years now and in a few different roles. Currently I’m one of the Wild About Gardens team and it’s certainly an active group to be part of.
Our aim is to encourage and educate people how to garden for a Wilder Kent.
When we’re not writing articles, offering advice, opening our gardens to the public and giving presentations to various groups, we’re being given fascinating talks by our sponsor partners. These talks reinforce the importance of our approach to gardening and provide us with some really enlightening information to share. We share this information, combined with our volunteers’ experience and knowledge of gardening for wildlife, by putting together on-line workshops giving advice on building ponds, developing meadowy lawns, growing wildflowers for pollinators and offering pointers on sustainable gardening. All of these focusing on the core message to offer our garden wildlife somewhere to eat, drink and shelter, without using chemicals to control perceived ‘pests’.
Feedback shows that our message is being positively received and we’ve had to run extra workshops because demand has been high. This is encouraging, and knowing that our message is reaching more and more people makes our efforts worthwhile.
If you’ve not seen what we’ve got scheduled for this year, our workshops and open gardens, then check out the website www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/wilder-gardens and spread the word!
You can visit Amanda’s beautiful nature friendly garden in Doddington near Faversham, when she opens for us this year on Sunday 7 August. Ticket numbers are limited to enable all guests the chance to chat with our volunteers, so book early to avoid disappointment!