The minute you exit the tube station you will notice that flowers are everywhere in Amersham. It is no surprise the town won ‘Britain in Bloom’ in 2022.  There are hanging baskets and street planters full of colour dotted around the streets.

 

 

The beautiful Memorial Gardens in the Old Town, with their stunning flowerbeds, are a great spot to sip a coffee from a nearby café. There are bright ‘pollinator patches’ around the town sown by Amersham Town Council, and recent additions of natural willow, wood, and metal sculptures of local species supported by local businesses. Much of this hard work to brighten up the town is done by the magnificent Amersham In Bloom volunteers.

 

 

There is also a charming garden at the back of the equally enchanting Amersham Museum (again cared for by dedicated volunteers).

 

 

Through Amersham Hospital Gardens (however, open only for NHS staff and their patients) volunteers have transformed dingy internal spaces into thriving gardens enjoyed by staff and patients and winning a national award in the process. And as you walk along Amersham’s streets, you will have lots of views into beautiful private gardens.

 

 

So if you like gardens, come and visit Amersham – especially as you get all the lovely historic buildings, shops, restaurants and views over the Chiltern hills thrown in!

 

 

 

Gardens and parks are good for us humans as they allow us to relax, breathe fresh air and enjoy the beauty of nature. But they are as important for wildlife as they are for us.

 

 

Did you know that, taken together, UK gardens are larger than all our national nature reserves combined? Little patches of green on pavements and along roads provide vital stopping-off points for pollinating insects. Trees and shrubs provide shelter and nesting spaces for birds and small mammals. Every single garden, however small, can play a role in reversing the terrible decline in common garden birds such as sparrows and chaffinches and of the insects they feed on. You can help in your garden or on your balcony. Try to grow open flowers and ensure something is flowering at any time of year; leave some ‘weeds’ in your lawn, particularly daisies and dandelions (which flower nearly all year round and thus provide vital nectar when little else is found). Be a little untidier: leave a strip of your grass a little longer, and create some piles of wood or leaves so that insects, amphibians and endangered species such as hedgehogs can shelter there. A small pond or bird bath is a great addition, as is feeding garden birds. Every little bit helps! 

 

 

 

If you’d like to find out more about local nature in Amersham, or would like to help protect it, please join Wild Amersham – it’s free!

 

 

For more information and a sign up link

 

 

Thanks to James Ford of @jimfordart for the photos of all the birds and one butterfly.