It can sometimes be hard to get everything right when it comes to sustainable gardening. From selecting the right peat-free compost for your soil (if you’ve not yet committed to making your own!) to capturing and storing enough run-off water to keep your flowers thriving throughout the dry summer months, it’s not always plain sailing.
Yet there are additions you can make to your garden that can have a huge impact on local wildlife and the health of our planet in general. My Pension Expert has compiled this short list of features designed to help wildlife thrive as you create your own little haven for nature.
Let your borders grow wild
Create a low maintenance alternative to paved edging with a woodland border or mini meadow. The RHS recently revealed that if 30 million gardeners pulled up a paving slab and planted 1m2 of perennial plants instead, the carbon removed from the atmosphere could offset the energy used to heat up to one million homes for a year!
So why not swap paved edging for a few trees, wildflowers, natural mosses, and shrubbery? Requiring very little upkeep, nature will take a hold of this small section of your lawn, giving birds, butterflies, hedgehogs, dormice, and even frogs a home, for a biodiverse area that takes care of itself. Shave off valuable mowing and weeding time with this beautiful garden border idea.
Build a home for a new friend
Create ideal spaces for wildlife to take shelter and make a home. Did you know, hedgehog numbers in rural areas of the UK are thought to have declined by between 30% and 75% since the millennium? Many animals and insects are facing a massive loss to habitat and diminishing numbers from pollutants, so creating a safe environment for them is vital to maintaining a healthy ecosystem.
Whether you choose to buy a decorative bee pillar or create your own hedgehog hotel with the kids, incorporating safe spaces into your garden can help bring nature to you, and protect wildlife in your area.
Harness the vitality of water
No space for a pond, or not committed to maintaining one? There are plenty of creative ways to introduce a small water feature to your garden, from reclaiming old bathroom furniture for a fountain, to converting an unused pot into a birdbath. You can even create a rain garden in an area with high levels of run-off that is prone to becoming waterlogged; a great way to use a space that might otherwise be written off and introduce some diversity to the plants in your garden.
Introducing a water feature to your garden gives birds and other animals a place to drink, bathe, and cool off, as well as providing a home for our little amphibious friends. Incorporating a rain garden can also help prevent flooding and reduce pollutants – rain gardens have been found to remove up to 90% of chemicals and up to 80% of sediments from rainwater runoff.
Limited space? Try thinking vertically
If you want to increase your garden’s biodiversity and positive environmental impact but you don’t think you have space to add plant life, you may need to adjust your perspective. Climbing plants can be a great way to make use of limited space, offering cover for birds and insects and adding a vibrant splash of colour to buildings and fencing.
Or, what about your shed or garage roof? Creating a green rooftop on your garage or shed (weight tolerance dependant) can open a whole new world of possibilities. Not only will it increase the space available for plant life that you and wildlife can enjoy, but you’ll also benefit from added insulation, improved air quality, and a reduction in water run-off.
My Pension Expert is with you
My Pension Expert understands that, whilst we can all do our bit as individuals to help protect our planet, it’s important that businesses step up to the challenge too. That’s why we incorporate our Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance policy into everything we do to ensure that we can support people, not just with their retirement finances, but also in their effort to stop climate change and make the world a better world place for everyone.
My Pension Expert has implemented a carbon-neutral policy and offsets its carbon footprint, and the footprint of colleagues, with monthly contributions to Oblong Trees, a tree planting programme in the UK and around the world. To minimise our carbon emissions, we optimise our activities to reduce paper use and use only FSG accredited paper and printers. We also reduce travel by supporting home working, the cycle to work scheme, and encourage car sharing with a discount scheme. Not only this, we also offer our clients access to sustainable model portfolios for their pension and investments*.
Outside of environmental concerns, My Pension Expert respects and promotes diversity and inclusion, and is keen to champion women in finance, a heavily male-dominated industry. My Pension Expert also contributes frequently to their chosen charity, St John’s Hospice, and regularly supports other causes through sponsorship and fundraising, such as Shelter and Women’s Aid.
*As with all investments, invested capital is at risk.