Pollinators around the world are in severe decline, and they desperately need our help. Different species such as bees and hover flies collect nectar and pollen from a variety of flowers, and they require a constant supply of these throughout the year.
By creating a ‘corridor’ of plants from which they can forage, we can ensure that they never go hungry, no matter what the season. Our gardens provide the perfect opportunity to do this. By swapping pollinator-friendly plants amongst ourselves, we can build the ultimate pollinator highway, street by street.
Our plant swap held on Lancaster Rd this year (October 2023) was open to all our Wilderhood Watch streets. It gave us the opportunity not only to give lots of plants away, but to welcome newly joined streets into our group.
We had great fun at our Coronation weekend stall on May 7 2023, giving away plants that members had brought to swap, and meeting new people in our neighbourhood.
To mark the beginning of the Great Big Green Week 2022, we had a Super Scarifying Weekend. This involved scarifying and sowing wildflower meadow seeds in gardens close to or on Wilderhood watch streets. We also had great fun helping to sow a new Buzz Stop in the grounds of the Greenwood United Reform Church.
Our plant swap on September 25th 2021 was a great success, as members with more mature gardens shared generously with those who were just establishing theirs. With lots of planting going on, we’re hoping our pollinator highways will get a real boost.
Here we are scarifying and sowing seeds on some Wilderhood Watch members’ lawns. Looking forward to seeing their wildflower meadows bloom in Summer 2022!
On June 27th 2021, members of Wilderhood Watch went into each others’ gardens to share tips on how to grow a meadow. We visited meadows on Harpenden, Seymour and Lancaster roads, as well as stopping by our Lancaster Rd Buzz Stop. Long grass is an essential habitat for many invertebrates, and the wildflowers blooming within it provide much needed pollen and nectar for pollinators. Hedgehogs also love the caterpillars and beetles which thrive there. We found that the long grass looked stunning when its edges were clearly defined by native borders or shorter grass. Pathways of shorter grass through the meadows were another beautiful feature.
Hilary demonstrated weaving a willow fence around her meadow to create a border between long and short grass.
For an even greater impact on the wildlife population in our gardens, try a bit of rewilding. The Blue Campaign is encouraging us all to let our lawns grow long, leave corners of our gardens undisturbed and to avoid using chemicals. They then suggest putting up a blue heart sign to let our neighbours know what we’re up to. A perfect talking point to start creating a pollinator highway along your street! If you have a grass verge, try putting one up there too, so that the contractors know not to mow.
You can make your blue heart yourself, order one from the Blue Heart Campaign shop, or contact us to pick one up from Wilderhood Watch member Danielle (suggested donation £2)
Pollinator Highway Projects
- Lancaster and Gurney Court Roads
- Bernards Heath
- Beaumont Ave
- Charmouth Rd
- Beech Rd
- Firbank Rd
- Flora Grove
- Fontmell Close
- Glenferrie Rd
- Ladder Rds
- Abbey View Rd
- The Park
- Salisbury Ave and Garden Close
- Woodstock Rd South
- St Albans City Centre
- Buzz Stops
- Bernards Heath Junior School
- Oaklands Apiary
- George St
