Can gardeners work with nature to help the environment and create beautiful spaces? Sue Bradley looks at plants that can help us to have it all.
A recent buzzword in horticulture and land management is ‘rewilding’. Adam Hunt and Lulu Urquhart won a gold medal at the 2022 RHS Chelsea Flower Show by reimagining ancient countryside and interpreting how the reintroduction of beavers could benefit nature, climate and people.
Nevertheless, some have questioned the practicalities of adopting rewilding principles within a domestic setting.
Monty Don has said that people need to work with nature to manipulate and tend their gardens and make choices rather than adopting a policy of not interfering, while Alan Titchmarsh has warned that allowing nature a free hand could lead to a reduction in plant diversity.
The debate continues, yet the fact remains that climate change is having a huge impact, and insect populations are declining, two issues we should bear in mind when deciding what to grow. After all, it is possible to create a beautiful space and help wildlife, to use planting and design to further afford protection against the greater extremes of weather in our changing climate.
We can make gardens sustainable and wildlife-friendly by combining what we grow with some biodiverse flourishes. Be it creating small water features and leaving some areas of grass long and un-mown, growing native flower species, or leaving a few back-of-the-garden patches of nettles and other wild plants to provide food for the young of insects such as butterflies, it all helps and can look and feel good in the process.
Three structural plants for borders that wildlife will thank you for
Reaching 2m (6ft 6in) tall and spreading just over a metre (3ft 2in), Angelica archangelica is strikingly architectural. It has beautiful foliage and, come early summer, large rounded, nectar-rich umbels. This fast-grower thrives in moist, well-drained soil and is ideal for the back of a border. Angelica usually dies back after flowering but produces attractive pods and is a prolific self-seeder given the right conditions. It can be encouraged to flower for a second year if spent flowers are removed before they set seed. Try Angelica gigas for purple flower heads.
Flowers: June and July
Height: 2m (6ft 6in)
Plant: Sow late spring or early summer in seed trays or direct, or buy as potted plants
Type of plant: Biennial or short-lived perennial
A big presence in a border, reaching 1.5m (4ft 9in) in height, Cynara cardunculus produces a large clump of attractive silvery foliage before sending up large purple nectar-rich flowers that closely resemble thistles and are especially popular with bees and butterflies. Leave them in place over the winter months to appreciate the
