Page 52 • The HERALD • 28th March 2024 v SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SPECIALISTS v ✿ DOWN THE GARDEN PATH ✿ All Aspects of Garden Work Undertaken • Driveways • Paving • Artificial Grass • Turfing • Decking • Fencing • Hedge Cutting • Landscaping Hythe Garden Contractors Family company established 1977 For a free quotation please call 023 8084 3556 or 023 8084 0378 Every year the National Garden Scheme (NGS) gives visitors unique access to over 3,500 exceptional private gardens in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Guernsey, and raises impressive amounts of money for nursing and health charities through admissions, teas and cake. Hampshire & Isle of Wight NGS guides are available at e Herald o ce, there are a lot of gardens open across the county in the coming months. Pop into e Herald O ce to grab a guide or visit the NGS website for more information: ngs.org.uk National Open Gardens Scheme 2024 WHY ARE BUTTERFLIES GREAT? Information from The Wildlife Trust and RHS We love butter ies. ey’re vibrant, eye-catching additions to our gardens, but so much more than that. ey are helpful pollinators. When butter ies land on owers to feed on nectar, they transfer pollen. Butter ies, moths and their caterpillars are important in the food chain, being prey to many species of birds and bats. You may also see garden birds taking caterpillars to feed to their young in the spring and summer. It can take up to 10,000 caterpillars to rear a brood of blue tits! They need our help Butter ies are good environmental indicators. is means that if butter y populations are going up or down, we get a good sense of how well the rest of the environment is doing. Butter ies and moths aren’t doing too well at the moment, with many species declining in recent years. e good news is that we can help butterflies and moths through gardening! Collectively our gardens can provide important places, homes and food sources for these special creatures. A secret garden We’ve been inspired by the movie adaptation of e Secret Garden and just like us the lmmakers are passionate about butterflies! Gardening is an essential part of e Secret Garden story and we’re encouraging everybody to garden with butter ies in mind! In the story, the garden eases grief, heals ri s and brings the joy out in all who experience it. Make a special place for wildlife – your very own Secret Garden where you can replenish your soul, reconnect with nature and help wildlife to thrive. Did You Know? • Butter ies can cross continents! Painted ladies migrate north from Africa every year, at a speed of up to 30 miles per hour. • Caterpillars can grow 10,000-fold in just a few weeks – that’s like a baby growing to the size of a sperm whale! • e UK has 59 species of butter y and around 2,500 moths, although there’s actually very little di erence between butter ies and moths. In fact, there’s an argument for considering them the same animal! • e swallowtail butter y is our largest butter y with a wingspan of almost 10cm. • e brimstone could be the very rst butter y. ere’s a theory that its bright yellow wings inspired the name buttercoloured y. For more information visit: www. wildaboutgardens.org.uk
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