Bring nature back

Part of our funding was to help nature return to towns and villages with this in mind we are doing our best to encourage insects and birds into the sensory garden using clever planting and specially designed areas. With in just a few days we saw increasing numbers of butterflies, dragonflies and bees. Large posters are fitted to the fence to encourage the children and young people to find and identify insects and birds.

Children were fascinated watching a small leaf cutter bee, a solitary insect that uses a unique nesting technique. They use pieces of leaves to construct cells within their nests, often found in pre-existing holes in wood or stems. There are seven species of leafcutter bees in Britain, and they are known for their ability to cut neat, semi-circular notches from leaves, ours is nesting in our large bug hotel.

Birds have started to come back and we have the usual sparrows, some finches and a family of Pied Wagtails that visit daily.

We hope to encourage more into the garden and to teach the children and young people about nature and the importance of each creature, insect or bird.