There are an estimated 20.6 million private gardens in the UK (Griffiths et al. 2025), occupying around 500,000ha (2% of the total land area). So, what do we know about their ecology – and ecological value? And what is the impact of people’s efforts to improve their gardens for wildlife, both for the wildlife itself but also for the personal and social benefits they bring? This article seeks to distil the latest research and evidence.
We now know that suburban gardens are a distinct habitat, with a different set of species and microhabitats to anything else. Stephen Head and Adrian Thomas describe the ecology of gardens, the history of gardening for wildlife and the case for gardens as valuable habitats.