A gardener from Lancashire, UK has won the award for the most bat-friendly plot following an RHS competition for Wild About Gardens Week.
RHS Wild About Gardens Week
The competition asked gardeners to choose a range of insect-friendly plants, watch them grow and then send in a photo.
Paul Burton from Lancashire lavished a feast of goodies on his local wildlife including a pond to attract the insects bats feed on, plus woody shrubs and a small tree for habitat.
Halesowen Abbey Trust won the group category for ‘Biodiversity and Bats’ area within the 18th century Leasowes Walled Garden in Halesowen, in the West Midlands. And in Bedfordshire, pupils at Southill Lower School scooped the schools award with their ‘Beautiful Big Bat Banquet Border’.
You can help bats in your own garden by including bat-friendly plants to attract insects and provide habitats. Most are on in our garden centre here in Athlone: here are just a few.
Bat-Friendly Plants
Daisy-type flowers including annual oxeye daisies and cosmos, and perennial asters
Umbellifers with ‘dinner plate’ flowers like achillea (yarrow) and sea holly (Eryngium)
Flowers with long pollen tubes to attract moths, such as honeysuckle and Scotch thistle
Herbs including lavender, borage and marjoram
Flowers that bloom in the evening, like evening primrose and night-scented stock.
