Recent data shows that more than 40% of people say nature, wildlife and green spaces have been even more important to their wellbeing since the pandemic.* With this in mind, local housebuilder Barratt Homes has committed to providing a long-lasting home for nature at its Lavender Grange development in Lower Stondon, where its show home gardens have recently been designed to a gold wildlife-friendly standard as set out by the RSPB.
Barratt Developments has an ongoing partnership with the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity, to ensure that wildlife can thrive alongside new residents at its developments. The show home gardens at Lavender Grange have been designed to provide a sanctuary for nature.
The RSPB provides a point score for the wildlife-friendly features that are present in each garden with the highest scoring gardens securing a gold status. Each of the gardens has integrated a range of wildlife-friendly characteristics, including bird boxes; ponds as a source of bathing, drinking water and refuge for scores of species ; bee hotels and dead wood features, to provide a home for insects and solitary bees; and composting facilities.
Karly Williams, Sales and Marketing Director at Barratt North Thames, commented: “We are really proud of our seven-year long partnership between Barratt North Thames and the RSPB, which has been so important in helping us give wildlife a home at our developments. Given the increased importance of nature to our wellbeing in the last year, we hope that our gold status wildlife-friendly show home gardens inspire our new residents to get involved and put in some simple measures to make their gardens wildlife-friendly too.”
Adrian Thomas, the RSPB’s wildlife gardening expert, commented: “Seven out of eight households in Britain have a garden, and together they can create a huge connected patchwork of homes for wildlife. We’ve seen in these show garden how lots of small actions can add up to make a big difference for wildlife – providing homes for birds to raise their chicks, flowers for bees and butterflies to feed and ponds for frogs and other creatures to hide and thrive.”
To find out how you can give nature a home in your garden, visit www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/give-nature-a-home-in-your-garden/
To find out more about Barratt Homes or the new homes at Lavender Grange call 0333 3558 500 or visit www.barratthomes.co.uk
*https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56889322
