We have a mid victorian terraced property. To my left and right no gardens, well gardens that are slabbed with a patch of lawn for trampolines. I live in a very industrial area of the country. I've never used pesticides or herbicides and planted for what I now see was for pollinators when I first began gardening. That was what I thought wildlife gardening was. The cottage garden if you like. Over time I read more and then began planting as well as allowing native plants to spread in the garden. My natives now include nettles, dandilions, clevers, docks, birdsfoot trefoil, knapweed, cows parsley, Hedge garlic, wild garlic, dog violets, ground ivy, primroses, cowslips, as many native plants that will grow in my semi shaded, clay soil garden. I planted three birch trees, Hazel, dog wood, Hawthorn, Rowan there's an apple that was here when we moved in 30+ yrs ago. I have a quarter of the garden that I dont touch at all. I do cut a path in my small lawn and a small area, once the crocuses have died back, for the grandchildren to play and ground feeding birds to feed. I do a final fullcut September. I will try your lawn cutting method this year as I only do one cut and remove method. The flower plugs are definitely worth purchasing. Thank you. (I really need to get the courage to remove the beautiful but awful Spanish bluebells now.)

Brilliant description of what's not a wildlife garden!

Hi Chris Love all your vids Im up to 30 species of wildflower in my mini meadow now It remains uncut much to the dismay of my snooker table neighbours This has proved itself a valuable source of habitat for many insects and birds Forget no mow may and endorse no mow Summer

"...a rich mosaic of habitats..." - I like that. I had a small patch of grass I left long without flowers in, and was lucky enough for a wasp spider to make her nest in there. She ate so many grasshoppers and got massive before she left.

Recently converted part of the lawn to a wildflower meadow, got red campion, oxeye daisy, primrose, cowslip, lesser knapweed & birdsfoot trefoil planted along with numerous wildflower meadow grasses. I bought the wildflowers as 9cm potted plants ready to be planted out. The rest of the lawn has lots of daisies & dandelions in it.

Totally agree, Chris. I have been buying native plants this year and hoping they establish themselves in my garden. But I still have a lot of non-native ones too. Best wishes, from South Wales.

Just found you on you tube, love it, thanks. One year I grew suitable wild flowers from seeds, plugs, then 9cm pots, very effective for a small area. Definitely agreed on the cross over between Hort’ and eco and finding the balance. I can never condone the use of a strimmer though. Scythes are back, or shears! 💚⭐️ So much we can do in small areas. Wildlife gardening is completely wonderful ultimately we/you are managing our small / large habitats providing links in the chain where we can 💚. Primula seed are an ants caviar; (myrmecochory )ant hills are often the key as well as being great for aeration and some species of hover flies eggs. Ajuga is a fantastic for naturalising and coping with grass, and would work well with your cowslips 💚. Glad to have found you Chris. 💚

😂looks a bit like my lady garden!! Loving the valuable information. Many thanks 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

In depth & informative as usual chris!! So much knowledge for people to digest and put into practice. My garden and wildlife pond are still evolving slowly but will keep you informed as promised. Will send a couple of pictures as it progresses over the coming weeks.😊

Good advice thanks, I removed my turf last year and planted a cornfield mix that bloomed fantastically. this year i planted a native mix and it doesn't seem to have seeded at all, there are green plants appearing but these look like one species. I have read that the seed may take a 2 seasons before they appear!

I really enjoyed this, thank you.

Chris where can i send pics of my wilded garden to ?