National Gardening Week

Next week is National Gardening Week – a chance for the whole country to get together and celebrate all that’s good about gardening!

Run by the Royal Horticultural Society, National Gardening Week is now in its 7^th year with thousands of people, gardens, charities, garden centres and groups getting involved in inspiring you to get out into your garden.

This year promises another extravaganza of garden-themed fun, with the theme Share Your Passion for Plants. All four RHS gardens, in Surrey, Devon, Yorkshire and Essex, are holding special events to mark the occasion, with celebrity speakers including BBC Gardeners’ World’s Adam Frost and top designers Ann-Marie Powell, Jamie Butterworth and Nigel Dunnett. And there are activities for all the family at National Trust gardens across the country.

And why not join in at home and celebrate National Gardening Week in your own back garden! Here are a few ideas for gardening themed activities the whole family can get involved in:

• Put in a pond: There’s no better way to attract in the wildlife than a pond (you’ll keep the kids occupied for hours pond-dipping, too!)
• Plant a tree: Research has found that trees in a garden mean better population of wild creatures from birds and bats to butterflies and bees.
• Build a wildlife sanctuary: Bird boxes, hedgehog houses and bee hotels give animals somewhere to shelter and attract wildlife into your garden.
• Plant a night-scented garden: Flowers that release their scent in the evening, like honeysuckle, campion and evening primrose are essential for moths.
• Make a compost heap: Great for wildlife but also fantastic for recycling all your kitchen scraps into lovely, rich, crumbly soil improver too.  

Pop into the garden centre here in Pickering this week and we can help you get started! National Gardening Week runs from 30 April to 6 May; for more details visit www.nationalgardeningweek.org.uk.