Wildlife garden
Out with the paving, in with the green: depaving your garden
Lift paving preferably in autumn or early spring: remove the slabs and the sand or hardcore underneath, loosen the soil, add good topsoil and plant native plants, a shrub or a patch of wildflower meadow.
What to do
- Decide what can go: often a path and a small patio are enough, and the rest can turn green.
- Lift the slabs, and also remove the sand, hardcore or concrete underneath until you reach real soil.
- Loosen the soil deeply with a garden fork and add topsoil or compost. Give the slabs a second life or take them to the recycling centre.
- Lay a path that lets water through, such as gravel, wood chips or stepping stones in the grass.
- Plant native plants: thyme, biting stonecrop and bird’s-foot trefoil for a dry, sunny spot, a dog rose or wild privet as a shrub.
Why it helps
- On paving, rainwater runs off into the drains, and in summer it becomes the hottest part of the garden. Soil with plants holds water and cools.
- Every square metre you depave gives soil life, insects and plants a place again.
Which plants?
- Breckland thyme Thymus serpyllum herb · flowers June–August Native
- Biting stonecrop Sedum acre perennial · flowers June–July NativePoisonous
- Bird's-foot trefoil Lotus corniculatus perennial · flowers May–September Native
- Maiden pink Dianthus deltoides perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Bloody cranesbill Geranium sanguineum perennial · flowers May–August Native
- Musk mallow Malva moschata perennial · flowers June–September Native
- Wild marjoram Origanum vulgare herbaceous plant Native
- Dog rose Rosa canina Shrub · flowers June Native
- Wild privet Ligustrum vulgare Shrub · flowers June–July NativePoisonous
When?
February–March and September–November.
Garden jobs in FebruaryGarden jobs in MarchGarden jobs in SeptemberGarden jobs in OctoberGarden jobs in November
Take up the challenge
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Plant 3 native shrubs (October–December)
Plant 3 native trees or shrubs, such as hawthorn, hazel or guelder rose: planting season has begun.
Did you know? Biting stonecrop and thyme like to grow between stepping stones and don’t mind being walked on now and then.