Garden Guardians

Garden Guardians is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund*. We work with communities in their shared green spaces to enhance them for people and wildlife, whilst giving people knowledge and skills that they can take away with them.

From tree planting, to bug house building, there will be something for everyone of any age to get involved in.

All events can be viewed here.

We also have lots of great resources available for you to view and download.

You can find about the wildlife in your garden and how you can support and encourage it here.

Do you want to learn more about the amazing world of garden insects? Then check out this information produced in association with Have you got the bug?

You can take the Garden Guardians pledge here.

We also have some beautiful posters showing the wide variety of birds, insects and reptiles and amphibians that you might find in your garden.

Autumn 2024:

As the colours of autumn start to appear, we are reflecting on a busy and buzzing spring and summer for the Garden Guardians. We have supported our local community by planting pollinator patches, by helping the Wallbridge Fields CIC team to ‘launch’ their community space, by working with the Young Changemakers at Stroud High School, by making seed bombs with community groups and at public events, and by generally sharing skills and knowledge of how green spaces can be managed with wildlife in mind. In total we have welcomed more than 1100 people of all ages to 36 Garden Guardians events since April.

It has been great to see the enthusiasm that people of all ages bring to our events, and to be able to share a little of the wonderful wildlife and habitats we have on our doorsteps. This included running two successful ‘bioblitz’ events at Stratford Park and the King GeorgeV playing field, where we worked with the community to record as much wildlife as possible in a single afternoon. At King GeorgeV playing field we noted more than 200 different species, including mosses, invertebrates, birds, and wildflowers and grasses.

As the nights draw in, we’re not resting on our laurels - our popular Mini Beasties group will continue to meet to talk about hibernation and winter wildlife. We are working with the Museum in the Park and Stroud District Council on an afternoon of winter wonders which will happen on 15 December. Alongside willow birdfeeder-making workshops, and continuing community engagement, there is still a lot more to come!

Springing into 2024 with Garden Guardians!

by Sharon Gardham & Tamsin Bent

Since our last newsletter, the Garden Guardians have continued to work with communities across Stroud to improve shared green spaces for wildlife.

Although a lot of wildlife was hibernating over the winter, we held various community events, including a bird box building workshop and a hedge planting day at Cashes Green.

We also ran training sessions for various town and parish council members about managing their own spaces for biodiversity, as well as our annual Seed Swap… which was busier than ever.

Our monthly pre-schoolers’ group, Mini Beasties, relocated temporarily to Victory Park while the Museum in the Park was closed for its annual maintenance. The children (and the adults!) have enjoyed some festive wreath making, learned all about garden birds and hibernating mammals, and delved into the wonderful world of frogs and toads!

As the weather starts to (hopefully) get warmer, we have lots more chances to get involved. We will be at the Museum in the Park on Sunday 21 April to celebrate this year’s Earth Day, making planters out of plastic waste.

We also have two bioblitzes coming up in June and July, where we will be finding out the plants and animals that make their homes at the King George V Playing Fields in Nailsworth and at Stratford Park in Stroud.

It would be great to see you there!

 Autumn 2023: Green spaces for all by Sharon Gardham

Garden Guardians is our Heritage Lottery funded project that aims to connect people with their local shared green spaces and give them lots of hints and tips that they can take home to use in their own gardens.

Since the spring, we’ve been busy working with people all over Stroud, connecting them with some of the wonderful wildlife we’re lucky enough to have all around us. As well as our extremely popular monthly group for pre-schoolers, Mini Beasties, we’ve planted pollinator patches with the Buzz Club, pond-dipped with Stroud Valleys School, and gardened with the Selsley Cubs.

For older wildlife lovers, we have created willow bird feeders and talked about how people can support birds in their gardens, been on a Fungi Foray at Ebworth, and planted native bulbs at Stratford Park. We also held a Bioblitz in June at the park… which coincided with the very heavy rain that caused extensive flash flooding in the town centre. We did manage to get some wildlife recorded, however, before we were rained off! 

This project will run throughout 2024, and we have lots more events planned for the months to come, so keep an eye on our website for ways that you can get involved.

Spring 2023: Guarding our green spaces by Sharon Gardham

Our brand-new Garden Guardians project has got off to a flying start. The project aims to work with communities in their shared green spaces, and to give them skills and knowledge that they can take home with them.

We ran our well-attended 2,000 Trees in Two Days event in February and invited families to come and help us plant some willow arches and dens in Stratford Park’s play area. Our monthly pre-schoolers’ group, Mini Beasties, is fully booked for the second month in a row; this month the children will be looking at birds.

We also worked collaboratively with Wild Stroud on a ponds workshop in Chalford and did pond dipping at the QEII playing fields in Dudbridge.

We have lots of great events coming up and are looking to work with more community groups over the summer.

Keep an eye on our website and social media for full details of events.

So, why not come along, meet your neighbours, improve your community, and learn some new skills into the bargain?

*The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past