July's Sustainability Challenge
Bloom for Biodiversity
Help nature bounce back – right on your doorstep
Did you know that the UK has lost nearly 50% of its biodiversity – more than almost any other G7 country? But even small changes at home can help bring nature back. This July, we’re inviting SNG residents to take part in our Bloom for Biodiversity challenge: a simple way to support bees, birds and bugs – and brighten up your home while you’re at it.
And don’t forget you can also enter the SNG-wide In Bloom gardening competition too.
🐝 Why It Matters
- The UK has lost 97% of wildflower meadows since the 1930s
- 1 in 10 species in the UK faces extinction
- Gardens make up over 400,000 hectares of land — more than all our nature reserves combined
That means residents like you have a powerful role to play in reversing this loss. Every flower you plant, every patch you leave wild, every bug you welcome — it all adds up.
How You Can Get Involved!
🌸 1. Plant for Pollinators
Bees are responsible for pollinating 1 in 3 bites of food we eat, but their numbers are falling fast. You can help by planting bee-friendly flowers like lavender, mint, borage or wildflowers. Even a pot on a balcony helps!
🐝 Bonus fact: A single bee can visit over 5,000 flowers in a day.
We’ll be handing out free wildflower seed packets at our roadshows – come grab yours!
🌿 2. Leave a Wild Corner
Let part of your garden, green patch or communal space grow naturally. Dandelions, clover, long grass and nettles might not look fancy, but they’re a five-star hotel for butterflies and insects.
🌱 Less mowing = more wildlife = lower carbon emissions. Everyone wins!
🏡 3. Build a Bug Hotel
Old bamboo sticks, toilet rolls, twigs and boxes can be turned into cosy shelters for pollinators and beetles. It’s a great summer activity for families — and the bugs will love you for it.
🐛 Insects may be tiny, but they’re the foundation of our food chain.
Send pictures of your projects to engagement@sng.org.uk, or pop us the details below!
Everyone that gets involved will be entered into a prize draw for a £20 voucher, and we will also pick our favourite photos that will each receive a £25 voucher.
So show us how you are doing your bit for biodiversity!
Who's Listening
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Customer Engagement Specialist
From Spring into Autumn, there are plants and trees in my garden which are great pollinators. At the end of Winter, the Wild Garlic shows up and attracts any early bees, which can soon taste nectar form my peach tree, which flowers soon after. In Spring, my big cherry tree and lilac humming with bees when in flower. In Summer, I have got honeysuckle and some yellow flowering big shrub in the hedge (I do not know the name of it), which flowers into November. My 5 mature Cordyline palm trees (up to 15 ft high) attract lots of bees as well, when in flower - and they bloom a lot! In the corner of my back garden I have got Willowherb (aka Dead Man's Beard) which is considered by lots of people as weed, but I like the pink flowers and so do the bees! My roses usually bloom twice a year - right into Christmas! The bonus is - as the bees are so busy - come Summer and Autumn, there will be lots of seeds, berries and fruit! The starlings empty the cherry tree within a week and all the other birds are happily bobbing about raiding all the other seeds and berries, no need to buy any commercial bird food, I grow my own!
Unfortunately I cannot supply any photographs, I do not own a smartphone or any suitable tech of that matter.