Top Wildlife Gardens in Dorset

Dorset’s top gardens for wildlife come in all shapes and sizes, with winners of this year’s Wildlife Friendly Garden Competition including school grounds, private gardens large and small and even a village hall. The competition, run by Dorset Wildlife Trust and sponsored by The Gardens Group, aims to recognise the important contribution gardeners are making to the conservation of the county’s wildlife.

What could be won?

This year’s garden categories were: Patio or Small (less than 100 square metres); Medium ­ Large; Large; Community or School; and Best Improved Garden for last year’s winners. Judges were looking for wildlife features, such as a nectar-rich border, bird feeders, pond or bath, native trees, hedge or long grass area and for how entrants had managed to incorporate some or all of them, even in the smallest spaces. Winners were announced at an Award Ceremony at Poundbury Gardens, where competition co-ordinator, Joy Wallis, gave a masterclass on gardening for wild bees and the winners of each category received a goody bag of bee-friendly insect houses, seeds and honey, all donated by The Garden’s Group, and a copy of the brand new book ‘Dorset- A Naturalist’s County’.

Dorset's gardeners praised

Nicky Hoar, Communications Officer at Dorset Wildlife Trust, said: “Dorset’s gardeners are showing that you really can make room for wildlife, whatever your garden or space might be. We have been bowled over by the way people have managed to achieve this AND by the beauty of these special wildlife havens right across the county.”

Wildlife Friendly Garden Competition results:

Patio/Small Garden
First Mrs King Cerne Abbas
Second Mitch Perkins Wimborne
Third Mrs Margaret Bascombe Poole
Highly Commended Anne Jonathan Dorchester

Medium Garden
First Mr and Mrs Bushby Upton
Second David White Portland
Third Marion Hammond Gillingham
Highly Commended Stan, Wendy and Fred Tilley Bridport
Sally Lester-Shaw Blandford Forum

Large Garden
First Pam and Bill Newton Charminster
Second Miss Buckley Buckland Ripers
Joint Third Mr William Jarrett Verwood
And Mr Roy Tarsnane Bridport

Community/School
First Holy Trinity Primary School Weymouth
Second Thorners Primary School Litton Cheney
Third Thornford Primary School, nr Sherborne
Highly Commended Leigh Village Hall

Best Improved (winners from last year)
Rosemary and Richard Agg Piddlehinton

For more information about Wildlife Friendly Gardening, click here

-ENDS-
Notes to Editor

For more information please contact Nicky Hoar at Dorset Wildlife Trust on 01305 264620.

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About Dorset Wildlife Trust www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk

Working for a secure future for Dorset’s wildlife enriching the quality of life Dorset Wildlife Trust works to champion wildlife and natural places, to engage and inspire people and to promote sustainable living. Founded in 1961, DWT is now the largest voluntary nature conservation organisation in Dorset, with over 25,000 members and over 40 nature reserves. Most are open daily and there are visitor centres providing a wealth of wildlife information at Brooklands Farm, Lorton Meadows, Kingcombe Meadows and Brownsea Island Nature Reserves, The Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve and the Urban Wildlife Centre at Upton Heath Nature Reserve. DWT plays a key role in dealing with local environmental issues and leads the way in establishing the practices of sustainable development and engaging new audiences in conservation, particularly in the urban areas.

Read our Blog "Wildlife Matters"

The Wildlife Trusts (TWT) www.wildlifetrusts.org

There are 47 individual Wildlife Trusts covering the whole of the UK and the Isle of Man and Alderney. All are working for an environment rich in wildlife for everyone. We have more than 800,000 members including 150,000 members of our junior branch Wildlife Watch. Our vision is to create A Living Landscape and secure Living Seas. We manage around 2,300 nature reserves and every year we advise thousands of landowners and organisations on how to manage their land for wildlife. We also run marine conservation projects around the UK, collecting vital data on the state of our seas and celebrating our amazing marine wildlife. Every year we work with thousands of schools and our nature reserves and visitor centres receive millions of visitors. Each Wildlife Trust is working within its local communities to inspire people about the future of their area: their own Living Landscapes and Living Seas.

Winner Small Garden Mrs King Cerne Abbas

 Winner Medium Garden Mr Mrs Bushby Upton

Winner large Pam Bill Newton Charminster

Winner community Holy Trinity Primary School Weymouth

Best improved Rosemary Richard Agg Piddlehinton