Dittander
Dittander is a herb of coastal saltmarshes and damp ground. Its waxy leaves and long roots help it to survive in this harsh environment. Due to its peppery taste, it has also become a popular…
Water vole by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION
Dittander is a herb of coastal saltmarshes and damp ground. Its waxy leaves and long roots help it to survive in this harsh environment. Due to its peppery taste, it has also become a popular…
Meadows of seagrass spread across the seabed, their dense green leaves sheltering a wealth of wildlife including our two native species of seahorse.
Even a small pond can be home to an interesting range of wildlife, including damsel and dragonflies, frogs and newts. Any pond can become a feeding ground for birds, hedgehogs and bats – the best…
The Lawson cypress is a large, conical-shaped, evergreen tree that has been introduced into the UK and widely planted in gardens and parks. It has also naturalised along damp banks and woodland…
The Holm oak is an introduced species that has been widely planted near the coast and in parkland. It is self-seeding in the south of the UK. Its young leaves are spiny like Holly leaves, and it…
Sphagnum mosses carpet the ground with colour on our marshes, heaths and moors. They play a vital role in the creation of peat bogs: by storing water in their spongy forms, they prevent the decay…
Learn a tradition with its roots in the Iron Age and build your own mini dry stone wall to attract wildlife.
A beautiful, tiny fungus, green elf cup can be commonly found on the decomposing wood of deciduous trees in woods, parks and gardens.
The mass of white, frothy blossom on a wild cherry is a sight to behold. Planted as an ornamental tree, it also grows wild in woods and hedges. Its red fruits are the edible cherries we know and…
Perennial rye-grass is a tufted, vigorous grass of roadside verges, rough pastures and waste ground. It is commonly used in agriculture and for reseeding grasslands.
Look for the round, cottony, purple flower heads of the Woolly thistle on chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. It is mainly found in Southern England.