Rare open day for new wildlife garden in Sutton Courtenay

The garden showcases a host of techniques such as recycled materials, pollinator planting, a raised pond, native fruit and vegetables and toad abodes.

The horticultural haven, which was created with help from Oxford garden designer Laura Heybrook and Oxfordshire’s Freshwater Habitats Trust, aims to inspire visitors of all ages and show how easy it is to help wildlife.

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The free open day on Saturday, June 3, will run from 10am to 3pm, with booking required. Activities will include seed planting, wildlife garden bingo and minibeast hunting.

Charlotte Howe, SCEEC learning officer, said: “We are living through a nature and climate emergency, and the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

“Our wildlife desperately needs our help – but thankfully there are loads of things we can do in our own back yards.

“Thanks to the generous help of Laura Heybrook, who gave her time for free, our garden showcases a huge range of brilliant ways to help loads of different species, from flowers to attract bees and butterflies to bird feeders and nest boxes.

“This garden gives an inspiring example of what can be done at home.”

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The garden has three borders showing different techniques:

The first is packed full of spring bulbs, pollinator-friendly flowers, shrubs, and plants that will provide berries and seeds for wildlife in winter.

Water butts harvest run-off from the centre’s green roof and a raised pond creates habitat for insects like dragonflies and amphibians such as newts.

The second border has been landscaped with raised beds made out of natural, recycled and reused materials from old bricks to logs, and is now bursting into life with organically-grown herbs and vegetables.

The third border has been planted with soft fruit bushes such as blackcurrants, raspberries, gooseberries and rhubarb. Throughout the garden there are bug hotels, solitary bee residences, bird feeders, bird baths, toad abodes and hedgehog holes.

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Garden designer Laura Heybrook said: “We wanted to set every visitor’s interest alight with the new planting and display and to show off all the natural world that we could during the changing seasons of the year, whether frogs or toads, bees or bats, newts or birds, butterflies and moths, wild flowers and vegetables – and of course the weeds which are just lovely plants growing in the wrong place.”

The Sutton Courtenay centre, run by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), is usually only open only to booked groups.

Staff are looking for more volunteers to help them manage the new feature.