Hedgehog Street inspired garden at RHS Harlow Carr, Harrogate, North Yorkshire will be unveiled for the first time today [Tuesday 25 April 2017], by wildlife charities People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS), who have successfully coordinated the Hedgehog Street campaign since 2011, and work tirelessly to conserve the UK’s native hedgehogs.
Picture :- Contemporary hedgehog garden at RHS Harlow Carr
Created by award-winning garden designer Tracy Foster, this new, permanent Hedgehog Street garden showcases a smorgasbord of hedgehog-friendly features designed to encourage visitors to RHS Harlow Carr to make the green spaces on their doorsteps a haven for these prickly creatures. The garden is made up of a series of individually themed gardens; one contemporary; one rustic; and one Mediterranean. The garden’s hedgehog-friendly aspects include nesting sites and Hedgehog Highways, providing access to neighbouring gardens, safe water features, planting and vegetation, to not only encourage hedgehogs, but also other wildlife and prey.
Henry Johnson, Hedgehog Officer for Hedgehog Street says: “We have been working on this new Hedgehog Street garden for 21 months, so it’s really exciting to be able to finally share the garden with the public. It’s been a pleasure to work with Tracy Foster again and the RHS Harlow Carr team - with their combined skills we have been able to push hedgehog-friendly garden design into new areas. We hope that thousands of people come and enjoy the garden, learn about declining hedgehog numbers, and feel empowered about the stylish things they can do to help wildlife back home.”
The State of Britain’s Hedgehogs 2015 report, produced by BHPS and PTES, revealed that hedgehog populations have declined by at least half in rural areas and by up to a third in urban areas since the year 2000. Since the creation of Hedgehog Street over 43,000 people across the UK have become ‘Hedgehog Champions’. This army of citizen scientists have pledged to help combat the shocking decline of Britain’s native hedgehog (voted the UK’s favourite mammal in a 2016 poll) by making simple changes in their own gardens, such as increase connectivity with neighbouring gardens, to improve hedgehogs’ access to food, shelter and mates.
In addition to running this successful citizen science initiative, BHPS and PTES also fund several academic research projects with partner universities to determine the factors most influencing the fall in hedgehog population numbers, and run campaigns to raise awareness about this native species, such as BHPS’ forthcoming Hedgehog Awareness Week [30 April – 6 May 2017].
RHS Garden Harlow Carr Curator, Paul Cook said: ”Hedgehog Street has been an instant hit with visitors who seem to like the scale of the showcase gardens as well as the range of styles. There are a whole host of ideas that people can take home and replicate in their own gardens, and do their bit to help our prickly pals.”
The creation of this Hedgehog Street garden in Yorkshire follows the success of the Hedgehog Street garden built for the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 2014, which won both a Gold Medal and the People’s Choice Award in the Summer Garden category and was also designed by Tracy Foster. The Hedgehog Street garden at the RHS’ most northerly garden is based upon a similar design brief to its 2014 predecessor, intended to not only bring delight to RHS Harlow Carr’s 400,000 annual human visitors, but also welcoming their smaller visitors too.
Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire said: “It’s great that this important campaign is being highlighted in Yorkshire in such a delightful way. Tracy’s wonderful designs at RHS Harlow Carr are packed full of ideas showing us all how we can make our gardens more hedgehog friendly. I’m sure visitors will be inspired to take action and help halt the decline we’re seeing in the species.”
For more information on how you can help hedgehogs, visit: www.hedgehogstreet.org
