Patchwork Nature Reserve

Photo by Lee Soo hyun on Unsplash

We’re hoping to supercharge our local biodiversity in the coming years by creating a patchwork nature reserve – creating nature-friendly patches in our community green spaces and household gardens.

Have you got a patch of land you could devote to boost biodiversity? Even if it’s only a square metre or a window box, every little counts. Click here for the top tips on gardening for wildlife that we were promoting at last years Gala Day on how to make your garden more nature-friendly.

Over the coming weeks we’re hoping to:

  • Map the land already given over to nature and conservation (such as St Mary’s Fields and Lyne Rd Green)
  • Identify other public land or community spaces that could be adapted for this purpose
  • Encourage members of the village to develop wild habitats in their own gardens and to log these.
  • Set a target for increasing the land given over locally to encouraging wildlife.

Could you be a part of this? And/or would you like to be part of the team moving this dream to a reality?

If so please email Rhiannon via kidlington@wildoxfordshire.org.uk

Announcement: Nature Friendly Garden Open Day – 15th June, Kidlington  

Summer 2024 will see Kidlington’s first ever open wildlife garden event! This will be on Saturday the 15th June.

Do you have a garden good for our local wildlife? Then why not celebrate it! I am looking for nature-friendly gardens to be a part of this special garden open day.

We (Kidlington Eco Group) are aiming for about 10 gardens to be open. If you would like your garden to be considered, please contact me by either email or phone. If you can, please do send pictures of your nature-friendly zone(s) with your email as this brings me joy and will make selecting the gardens easier. Your garden can be any size, we’d like a range so don’t worry if you think you have a small garden – all can be celebrated! Over the next few months, I’ll be suggesting ways to enhance your garden for wildlife to help with inspiration.

*Rhiannon Young (Wild Kidlington Project Officer)

Email: rhiannon@wildoxfordshire.org.uk

Phone: 07585424149

What does a Nature Friendly Garden look like?

It doesn’t have to be the whole garden that’s left “to go wild” (a common misconception). We are celebrating gardens that help nature out and increase local biodiversity. It could be that you have a wildlife friendly pond – one that’s sunken and accessible to amphibians and safe for hedgehogs to drink from – or that you have a mini meadow area or native, insect friendly plants in your borders. You might have an excellent log pile or an undisturbed area for hibernating animals or lots of water dishes out for creatures to drink from, not forgetting hedgehog highway gaps! And of course, gardening without using chemicals toxic to wildlife such as insecticides, herbicides, or pesticides. There are lots of ways to either make your whole garden, or a part of it, great for our local wildlife. Keep an eye on the Kidlington News and the KEG Facebook page for monthly garden wildlife jobs and tips.