‘Just one change in your garden can really make a difference’
We’re in a global biodiversity crisis, and gardens are vital to finding a solution say Andrew Salisbury and Kálmán Könyves
What does this target mean?
Gardens play an essential role as habitats for a wide range of biodiversity, from birds and pollinators to fungi. At the RHS we aim to demonstrate the value of gardens and enhanceWe are in a global biodiversity crisis, which is happening right now alongside the climate crisis, and means that because of human actions we are quickly losing species and habitats. Land-use change,
UK gardens combined cover an area twice the size of Somerset, and are unique biodiverse habitats, with 400,000 different types of plant in cultivation. This represents a remarkable resource, although it is undervalued and threatened due to lack of awareness. Sadly, over time some of these plants have already become extinct. However, we know that gardens can have a huge positive impact on biodiversity.
It is the RHS’ mission to spread this message far and wide, and provide encouragement, support research and information to enable the UK’s 30 million gardeners to play their part. We will also work with policy makers and land managers to enhance cultivated spaces for biodiversity.
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The way we manage our gardens is key to unlocking benefits for biodiversity. Every gardener can make a difference, whether their space is large or small
The decline in biodiversity is alarming, not just globally but in our back gardens too. While lots of it is unseen, all of it matters. The way we manage our gardens is key to unlocking benefits for biodiversity. Every gardener can make a difference, whether their space is large or small
Ordinary gardens contain an abundance of wildlife. Scientist Jennifer Owen recorded 2,673 species of animals and plants in her own suburban garden over a 30 year period, many of them insects and other invertebrates, and some new to science.
Healthy garden ecosystems comprising plants, insects, other animals and fungi are vital for the health of our towns and cities, from helping with pollinating our crops to recycling nutrients. They improve our own health and wellbeing too!
Cultivated garden plants are often undervalued, but they provide key resources for pollinators, including pollen and nectar for food across the seasons – which will be especially important as seasons shift as a result of climate change. Cultivated plants also provide other environmental benefits such as pollution capture, temperature moderation, noise filtering and reducing flooding. The greater the diversity of plants in our gardens, the greater the chance of finding the best plants to sustainably improve our urban areas.
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A garden that supports a healthy ecosystem will contain a myriad of beneficial species that help to look after your plants
A garden that supports a healthy ecosystem will contain a myriad of beneficial species that help to look after your plants
Pioneering research projects
We have built on our considerable research into how gardens promote and support biodiversity. The groundbreaking Plants for Bugs project demonstrated how filling a garden with a variety of plants supports a wide range of invertebrates, from bees to ground beetles, springtails and woodlice.A review of the RHS Plants for Pollinators lists and logo has strengthened our evidence and identified further research avenues. This enables gardeners to confidently, quickly and easily choose plants that will support pollinators.
Spreading the message
Through our social media, website, magazines, books, RHS Gardening Advice, and community outreach, we’re spreading the biodiversity-positive gardening message to a wide and diverse audience. We encourage wildlife and pollinator-friendly gardening through our Wild About Gardens newsletter, participating in Bees’ Needs Week and supporting Insect Week.
Collaboration and partnerships
We’re working with partner organisations to highlight the ways horticulture and wildlife conservation can collaborate, including our partnership with The Wildlife Trusts on the Wild About Gardens campaign which inspires action for nature in gardens.
Supporting biodiversity as a core RHS value
Within our own gardens and wider estates, we are running biodiversity surveys of key species groups including bats, birds, butterflies and bumblebees. We will use this information and future monitoring to conserve and enhance the value of our land as habitat. It is important that we lead by example to demonstrate what positive steps can be taken. Supporting biodiversity is a key element of all our activities. Features designed to encourage as much garden life as possible, many of which we began at RHS Hilltop, are now becoming common across our gardens:
- Dead hedges, diverse planting, water features designed for wildlife and more.
- Management regimes on wider RHS estates, such as areas of woodland, are being adapted to encourage wildlife.
- Using volunteers and professional ecologists, we have surveyed the biodiversity of our gardens and estates, and gathered ‘baseline’ data on the animals, fungi and plants found in them.
- We have established staff biodiversity groups at each garden and the first RHS staff biodiversity conference was held in 2024, enabling a sharing of ideas, experiences and celebrating the wildlife of our gardens.
- Surveys that will enable the society to meet Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements for developments have been carried out across our estates. These are also helping to inform and guide research to better recognise gardens as the biodiverse habitats they are.
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A dead hedge in the Pinetum at RHS Wisley, repurposing ‘waste’ woody material from the garden into a design feature that provides habitat
Cultivated plants are at the heart of the RHS, but we need to understand the impact climate change will have. The RHS has a long tradition of growing a wide range of cultivated plants, with over 35,000 different kinds of plant being grown in our five gardens.A dead hedge in the Pinetum at RHS Wisley, repurposing ‘waste’ woody material from the garden into a design feature that provides habitat
The RHS takes care of more than 6,000 plants that are considered threatened in cultivation, and holds 30 National Plant Collections.
We have been documenting plants in cultivation, most notably in our reference collection of dried preserved specimens, the RHS Herbarium, which now holds representatives of over 37,000 plant taxa.
We have assessed our plant collections in the gardens and implemented a propagation and distribution plan to help prepare for the effects of climate change.
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The RHS Herbarium is the largest in the UK dedicated to ornamental plants and contains more than 95,000 specimens, now available to view online through RHS Digital Collections
The RHS Herbarium is the largest in the UK dedicated to ornamental plants and contains more than 95,000 specimens, now available to view online through RHS Digital Collections
Continue to grow within the RHS
- We will continue to adapt the way we look after our gardens, and to be biodiversity positive by recording our wildlife (animals, plants and fungi) and developing action plans to preserve and enhance the biodiversity supported by our gardens and estates.
- We will measure the impacts of all our activities and use this to inform our research and advice to gardeners, building on the RHS Plants for Bugs and Plants for Pollinators.
- We will continue to encourage a ‘biodiversity positive’ attitude across our staff and volunteers, providing support to undertake wildlife-related activities within their roles and embed consideration for biodiversity into our ways of working.
Encourage gardeners to work with us
- Ensure gardeners view their gardens as valuable habitats, and research how to encourage healthy balanced garden ecosystems, where creatures that feed on cultivated plants, their predators, and decomposers such as fungi are supported.
- Encourage gardeners to record the plants in their gardens using the RHS Grow app to help obtain a more accurate measure of which and how many plants are in cultivation in the UK, and monitor how these change with the climate.
