Wildlife-friendly gardens are worth more

This video from Ireland says about itself:

I am in the process of creating a wildlife garden, here in North Antrim, so as well as providing daily food sources for my local birds, I’ve also fenced off six special wildlife areas in our paddock, which has given me approximately 800 square metres to plant native species. In those areas I have already planted: 128 Native Trees, 354 Shrubs, 300 Lesser Sedge plants, 300 Primroses & 200 Lillies.

This little video then, is a record of the journey so far, shown by the variety of species that are present in the garden so far. I’m hoping it will help to encourage me to work a little harder & may even help to inspire others to look a little more closely at their own patches & perhaps do a little more, for their own local wildlife species.

The music is a selection of recordings of my own playing, of Traditional Music, on a variety of instruments.

From Wildlife Extra:

Wildlife-friendly gardens worth more to most homebuyers

December 2013: A survey has revealed that seven out of 10 people in the UK would consider paying more for a property that has a wildlife-friendly garden.

The RSPB and property website Rightmove asked 1,548 people a series of questions relating to gardens and garden wildlife. In answer to the question ‘would you pay more for a house with a wildlife friendly garden?’ 14% of people surveyed answered ‘yes, definitely’, another 14% answered ‘probably’ and 39% said ‘maybe’.

People in Northern Ireland were most likely to pay more for a wildlife-friendly property with almost half of people surveyed (46%) answering ‘yes, definitely’ or ‘probably’.

However, only 7% of those in Wales think a wildlife-friendly garden is important enough to consider definitely paying more.

Of those surveyed, seven out of 10 (69%) described the area in which they live as either urban or suburban; more than half (56%) have children; and more than nine out of 10 (93%) said they were happy when they saw wildlife in their garden.

The survey was carried out to get an insight into people’s knowledge and interest in UK garden wildlife following the launch of the RSPB’s new campaign, Giving Nature a Home, which aims to help tackle the crisis facing the UK’s threatened wildlife. The charity is urging the nation to provide a place for wildlife in their own gardens and outside spaces and hopes to inspire people across the UK to create a million new homes for nature.

Sarah Houghton, RSPB campaign manager, said: “Gardens provide a valuable lifeline for things like starlings, toads, hedgehogs and butterflies, so we want to persuade people to give nature a home where they live – it could really help make a difference.”

Related articles

• Native vs immigrant trees: what’s best for attracting wildlife? (telegraph.co.uk)
• #Chortlon community wildlife garden Sat Dec 7th #biodiversity #Manchester (manchesterclimatemonthly.net)
• Fieldfare in The Hidden Gardens (thehiddengardens.wordpress.com)
• Garden wildlife: what species fared well in 2013? (telegraph.co.uk)
• Big Garden Birdwatch Survey 2013 – Results. (hswarner.wordpress.com)
• Planting trees for wildlife (theguardian.com)
• Green Landscaping In New York City (newyork.cbslocal.com)