Have you even wondered how to help our struggling insects but are not sure how?  Well, help is on hand thanks to an exciting new idea called the Pollinator Pathmaker Project. It was featured on Gardeners’ World episode 24 at 31 minutes. It designs gardens from an insect’s perspective and provides beautiful and bold planting schemes. Non-native species are only included if they are non-invasive and grasses are included to reduce weeding and provide another habitat.

We hope to form a network of interested residents and groups in the village who would like to take part. Residents in Constantine, a village near the Eden Project, where the idea was first tried, used the planting scheme in their front gardens. They found ‘tons of pollinators’ and were very pleased with the result. They set up a WhatsApp group to share photos and news on their gardens. We hope to do the same in Barrow.

You may want to start with a small patch or just a pot to begin with or devote a much larger area - it’s up to you. To get started, all you need to do is give some basic information such as size of plot, how sunny your garden is and soil type then the fun starts! The free online tool will create an image of your garden and provide you with a planting list. You can access the tool at https://pollinator.art/pathmaker. Help from experienced Barrow gardeners will be on hand at every stage of the process and we hope to share seeds and plants too.

If you would like to get Barrow buzzing, please contact Alison Rushton at wildaboutbarrow@gmail.com

Alison Rushton