Back

Five myths of wildlife gardening, pitted against science

What does the science actually tell us about wildlife gardening? Urban ecologist Dr Mark Goddard busts five common beliefs to show that anyone, anywhere, can create a biodiverse garden

Is it true that only large, untidy “wildlife gardens”, full of native plants and with lawns replaced for wildlife meadows, are good for wildlife? The answer is no, says urban ecologist and this year’s John MacLeod lecture speaker, Dr Mark Goddard.

“Residential gardens make up half of the total green space areas in cities – an extent that translates into huge potential for wildlife benefits,” says Mark, speaking at the 2024 RHS John MacLeod annual lecture, citing a 2010 study on biodiversity conservation in urban environments.

“Our gardens contain considerable habitat – in the UK alone they contain over 28 million trees, 4.7 million nest boxes, and 3.5 million ponds. 48% of us in the UK engage with wildlife on our doorstep every day through bird feeding.

“However, it’s only relatively recently that the science community – and wider society – began to truly appreciate the value of gardens for wildlife.”

Bird boxes and feeding are some of the most familiar ways we encourage and engage with wildlife in our gardens – and about half of UK residents do it. According to Mark, there is growing evidence that biodiverse gardens are linked to higher wellbeing
Changing attitudes

In 1966, zoologist Charles Elton dismissed the value of gardens for wildlife, describing them as ‘biological deserts’. However, in the decades that followed, pioneering long-term surveys by Jennifer Owen in her garden in Leicester shone a light on the sheer scale of biodiversity supported by an ‘ordinary’, modest-sized (741m²) suburban garden. 

Over 30 years, Jennifer recorded 2673 species of plants and animals in her garden, including 20 species that were new to Britain, and six that were new to science entirely. Her books, which document her findings, set a landmark for urban ecologists and an enduring reference.

“Since then, the body of research and larger-scale studies of garden biodiversity have boomed, particularly in the last ten years and facilitated by community science, which has enabled long-term studies across large numbers of gardens,” says Mark.

Despite this newfound appreciation of gardens for biodiversity and a paradigm shift in attitudes and understanding since Elton’s comment in 1966, traditional perceptions sometimes limit the opportunities to optimise for wildlife – and to apply this at a landscape scale across cities to create cumulative impact – since a certain amount of mystery still surrounds wildlife gardening, according to Mark.

“The scope for nature connectedness through urban gardens is massive,” he says, “but social norms can still be a barrier. There are a lot of myths around wildlife gardening – these are what I’m hoping to address.”

Myth 1: Only “wildlife gardens” are good for wildlife

“Studies of randomly selected gardens have shown that ‘ordinary’ gardens, i.e. those that aren’t intentionally managed as ‘wildlife gardens’, are on average extremely species-rich,” says Mark.

“Ordinary gardens are naturally biodiverse for several reasons. In natural settings, one or a handful of species often end up dominating that habitat. By contrast, active management of gardens by gardeners – adding new plants and continually disturbing the plant communities to prevent any one plant taking over – creates high levels of species richness.”

“Gardening per se is very good for wildlife on the whole on account of this high plant richness.  Gardens actually exceed a lot of natural habitats in terms of plant species richness. Even lawns are often a lot more biodiverse than people think – they contain a surprising number of species.

“Add to that the great variety of vegetation structures found in gardens, with trees, shrubs, herbaceous and more, and you end up with a wide variety of niches and opportunities for wildlife, with enough biomass of vegetation to support several higher levels in the food chain.”

Installing a pond is probably the best way people can increase biodiversity by a single action

- Dr Mark Goddard

Gardens are species-rich habitats: plant species richness in Leicester and Belfast gardens compared to various semi-natural habitats. The graph shows how plant richness increases as more quadrats (sampling areas) are included. After 100 quadrats, even the Belfast gardens (least plant-rich out of the five cities studied) exceed limestone grassland (the most diverse semi-natural habitat). Adapted from Loram et al. 2008.
Myth 2: Only big gardens are of value for wildlife

We often imagine that large habitats contain more species, but this doesn’t necessarily hold in garden settings, according to Mark.

“Larger gardens do generally contain more plant species, microhabitats and wildlife-friendly features,” he says. “But a study in Sheffield has shown that garden size doesn’t actually correlate at all to invertebrate richness.”

Research by Dr Nick Tew during a PhD with the RHS and the University of Bristol also found no correlation between size of garden and the amount of nectar available for pollinators: what was planted in those gardens, and how they were managed, was far more significant.

No matter how small your space, you can still provide valuable habitat and resources for wildlife – even if it’s just on a balcony or in a windowbox. For inspiration, try our bee-friendly container ideas.

Even if your space is very limited, you can create impact through a pot or group of pots containing choice pollinator plants
Myth 3: You must only plant native species

In the

perennial debate over native versus non-native species and which are best for biodiversity, Mark feels the value of exotic and cultivated plants shouldn’t be overlooked.

“We can’t be a purist about this in a garden setting,” he says. “Wildlife are one aspect of why we keep gardens, but it’s also about aesthetic value and wellbeing benefit, and non-native and cultivated plants can enhance that.

Plant diversity is also key to future resilience

- Dr Mark Goddard
“In any case, non-native species have been shown to be of value to garden wildlife. In Sheffield studies, the native/non-native status of plants didn’t correlate with the number of animal species present.”

The RHS Plants for Bugs project also found that the value of gardens as pollinator habitat can be maximised by planting native and near-native species while also including a selection of exotics to extend the flowering season.

Experimental plots in the RHS Plants for Bugs project, which highlighted the value of non-native plants for biodiversity

Myth 4: Lawns are poor for wildlife and must be replaced with flowering meadows

A lawn can be an asset to wildlife if managed in the right way, according to Mark. “A global review has shown that intensively managed lawns have lower biodiversity,” he says. “However in one project, a total of 159 plant species were found across 52 garden lawns in Sheffield. This number of species is in line with semi-natural habitat types.

“One of the first studies of how lawn management affects biodiversity has found that intermediate levels of mowing – mowing every two weeks, rather than every week or every three weeks – supported the highest abundance of bees, because this regime allows flowering but without long grass compromising access to the flowers.”

The Optimow project by Royal Holloway, which asks volunteers to change the mowing frequency of their lawn and count the pollinators they find compared to before, has reported a 75% increase in pollinator numbers so far as a result of reduced mowing.

“Keeping a less intensive lawn has significant benefits to biodiversity,” says Mark. “Even reducing mowing to once every two weeks can produce meaningful biodiversity enhancement at a landscape scale.”

Mowing just once a fortnight allows lawn species to flower, providing a valuable buffet for pollinators, without the flowers becoming hidden in long grass

Myth 5: Wildlife gardens must be untidy

“Sometimes when we think of stereotypical wildlife gardens, we imagine they need to include plants such as nettles,” says Mark. “However, an experiment to explore different ways to increase biodiversity in gardens found that nettle patches made no significant difference. Installing a pond is probably the biggest way people can increase biodiversity by a single action.”

According to Mark’s research, 80% of householders in a 2013 study reported having a duty to maintain neighbourhood standards through their gardening. Mark found that this is often mutually enforced between neighbours, for example neighbours asking each other to trim their hedges. However, keeping up with the Jones actually harms Britain’s bees, according to Mark.

“Social norms of tidy gardens can be detrimental to biodiversity,” he says. “My research showed that bee richness is higher in less wealthy areas, indicating that where there may be less strong societal norms and more tolerance of ‘weeds’, there are more wild plants providing food and nesting opportunities for bees.” Butterfly Conservation have also shown this year that long grass is linked to a greater abundance and richness of butterflies.

“However, though social norms can be a barrier, they can also be an opportunity,” says Mark. “Neighbours will often copy one another and this can facilitate spread of wildlife-friendly practices. I’ve seen examples where one person has put a pond in and others have followed. The key is how to harness positive actions for conservation while combatting the negatives of social norms.”


A formal wildlife garden with choice perennial border and areas of long and short grass
What next for wildlife gardening research?

“Beyond myths, there are harmful things we should avoid if we want to really promote biodiversity – artificial lawns, garden lighting, even keeping a cat. These are some current areas of research. We also need more experimental work to understand the mechanisms behind the patterns we’ve seen in gardens, and how to maximise the value of very small habitats.

“What’s clear is that small individual actions and changes do scale up to impact biodiversity,” says Mark. “But social factors are also key. Gardens aren’t in isolation – they are part of a landscape at neighbourhood and city scales. Biodiversity is mobile and operates at that landscape scale.

Reducing mowing to once every two weeks can produce meaningful biodiversity enhancement at a landscape scale

- Dr Mark Goddard
“This means we need to manage gardens at a landscape scale, as a network of patches rather than individual units. This requires understanding and planning, and also an understanding of the social factors around decision-making and how neighbours influence each other.”

“Government incentives for householders using policy tools such as regulation and financial rewards may help us achieve our national goals for biodiversity,” says Mark. “Certification schemes and community initiatives have been effective in the US – can we create similar schemes? And of course, we need to retain existing gardens and increase plot sizes in new developments, collaborating with developers to increase biodiversity.”

Neighbours have power to positively influence each other to achieve landscape-scale improvements for biodiversity
About Dr Mark Goddard

Mark is an urban ecologist working on biodiversity conservation and the provision of ecosystem services in cities. A focus of his research has been understanding the biodiversity of private gardens, and in particular, the ecological and social factors that influence garden biodiversity at multiple scales.

Save to My scrapbook

You might also like

Study finds top 5 ways to provide for pollinators in urban gardens

Study finds top 5 ways to provide for pollinators in urban gardens

RHS Plants for Pollinators

RHS Plants for Pollinators

Get involved

The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.