Learn about slugs, snails and wildlife gardening at free event
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WILD ABOUT GARDENS: Make friends with molluscs this spring (Image: Tom Marshall)
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is set to celebrate slugs and snails at its Gardening for Wildlife Morning on Wednesday, April 10. The free event, which is part of Community Garden Week, is being held at the wildlife charity’s St Nicholas Park nature reserve, in the grounds of St Nicholas Hospital in Gosforth.
Between 10.30 and noon, members of the public, no matter what their age or level of gardening knowledge, can drop in and talk to the Trust’s gardening and plant experts about how to make their gardens more attractive to wildlife. There’s also a free Wild About Gardens booklet for everybody who turns up.
It's part of a new campaign by Northumberland Wildlife Trust and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), who are joining forces this spring to support slugs and snails in the region’s gardens. ‘Making Friends with Molluscs’ aims to encourage gardeners to reconsider the role of these creatures in their gardens.
Slugs and snails have long been viewed as a gardener’s greatest enemy, but out of the 150 species in the UK, only a small fraction of these pose problems for gardeners. The majority contribute positively to the garden ecosystem in a number of ways.
By supporting them, gardeners indirectly support a diverse array of wildlife. In addition, territorial slugs, such as leopard slugs, can be helpful in warding off other species of slug and therefore protecting plants from grazing.
Duncan Hutt, director of conservation at Northumberland Wildlife Trust said: “Snails and slugs play such an important role in consuming dead plants, animals and fungi, recycling nutrients back into the soil and creating nutritious compost, great for growing vegetables, fruit and flowers. We want everyone to avoid using pesticides which can indiscriminately harm other creatures too.
“You can grow a range of plants that snails and slugs tend to not eat, such as onions and hardy herbs, instead of trying to control them. These marvellous molluscs help to enrich and aerate the soil, and they’re also a great food source for other incredible animals such as newts and beetles.”
The Gardening for Wildlife Morning on Wednesday, April 10, has been made possible thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Find out more about the campaign on the Wild About Gardens website.
Location: Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
