Early Bumblebee ©Jon Hawkins/Surrey Hills Photography
Wilder Gardening
Be part of Team Wilder, bringing about the change nature needs together.
Nurturing nature
August’s lingering warmth and fading blooms mark a critical period for wildlife gardeners. As nectar sources dwindle and young animals prepare for independence, a well-tended garden can provide vital food, shelter, and water.
By planting late-season nectar sources, maintaining clean water features, providing nesting sites, fostering structural diversity, and minimising disturbance, you’ll support an abundance of native species.
Top Gardening Tips for August: Plant or maintain flowering late-bloomers like buddleia, sedum, and asters to supply nectar for bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. Allow a few apples, blackberries, and elderberries to ripen fully on shrubs and canes—tasty fuel for birds migrating or fattening for winter. Leave spent cosmos, rudbeckia, and teasel to dry in place; goldfinches and other seed-eaters relish the seeds through autumn.
National Allotments Week will soon be here! It is an annual initiative that aims to raise awareness of allotments and their role in helping people live healthier lifestyles, grow their food, develop friendships, and bolster communities. This year it runs from 11-17 August 2025, and the theme is Allotments and Wellbeing. If you have an allotment and want to become the proud owner of a special Somerset's Wilder Allotment Award - head here for all the information you need to make your allotment a wildlife friendly space.
Photo: Penny Dixie
Garden projects, big and small
We have a whole range of fantastic gardening project ideas for you to get stuck into - both big and small.
Image: Mark Hamblin/2020VISION
Small tortoiseshell (Aglaise urtica) feeding on garden flowers, UK
Apply for your Wildlife Gardening Award!
How wildlife friendly is your garden? In order to gain a plaque, you need to demonstrate you are making an effort to welcome wildlife in different ways.
Image: Vaughn Matthews
Wilder Open Gardens
No matter what size of outdoor space, from tiny gardens and window boxes to large estates and everything in between, take part our wilder alternative to a coffee morning fundraiser, whilst spreading the word about gardening for wildlife.
Resources
Thank you for gardening for wildlife, every positive action you take makes a big difference. With your help, we can put nature into recovery, create more space for wildlife to thrive, and reduce the pressure on the environment. This has to be a joint effort. We all have different skills, knowledge, and experience to offer. And we’ve got resources and advice to help get you started...
Team Wilder
Celebrate wildlife gardening and use your garden to take action to help support nature. Many of our common garden visitors – including hedgehogs, house sparrows and starlings – are increasingly under threat. But together we can make a difference. Find out how our green spaces can provide for wildlife.
Wilder Allotment Awards: Although allotments are mainly used for growing food, by adding in wildlife friendly plants you can create a mini-ecosystem that’s good for you and good for wildlife. Demonstrate you are making an effort to welcome wildlife in different ways and practicing environmentally friendly actions and apply for your plaque today!
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