Episode 239: Growing Biodiversity

My guest this week is gardener Benny Hawksbee. Benny has a background in biology and gardens with one eye on biodiversity. His projects include the Eden Nature Garden, a community garden designed to be a haven for people and wildlife, and John Little’s garden in Essex.  We talk about how Benny brings biology and ecology into his work, what we can all do to garden for wildlife whilst reducing our input in terms of resources and how we can involve the community in building and using gardens that work for everyone.  Dr Ian Bedford’s Bug of the Week: Broad bean pests What We Talk About  Benny’s professional background and how he got into horticulture The Eden Nature Garden How Benny brings biology & ecology into his work Gardening on a low budget and with low resource availability, such as the absence of running water and electricity Going against the horticultural rule book Bees - native species and honeybees The importance of community involvement in public gardens The future of gardening in the UK Links www.edennaturegarden.org www.hawksbeegardening.com Benny on Instagram  London Natural History Society UK Bees, wasps, ants recording society Other episodes if you liked this one: John Little Nature from the Rubble Patreon