Community Wellbeing Garden

“The Community Garden is Nature’s Samaritans!”

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Gardening and particularly gardening in a group can bring many wonderful benefits to all, regardless of health, age or circumstance. We’ve invited Kate Green from Petworth’s Community Wellbeing Garden to explain.

Kate, is the founder of the charity, a wheelchair accessible therapeutic garden which has been running for 21 years. She is a permaculture designer and teacher, and has designed, set up and run various gardens (school, elder care, market) as she finds joy in re-connecting people with nature through community projects. Read more

Picture of detail on the new mural GS Creative Photography

New youth project highlights care for local ecology in Westergate

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Students from Ormiston Six Village Academy have unveiled a massive (40m) new mural along with dynamic new signs for local bins, as part of a project they have designed to increase respect for the natural world in their area.

Developed with input from the whole school community, the project supported a number of students in Years 8 – 10 to work with two commissioned artists – selected by them – to create art interventions in the school’s local Westergate village intended to inspire greater respect for the natural world locally. Read more

Bees Needs Award 2026RHS

Sussex Green Living receive the Defra National Bees Needs Champions Award from Nature Minister Mary Creagh at RHS Wisley

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At Sussex Green Living, we are delighted and honoured to have been recognised at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) National Bees Needs Champions Awards at RHS Wisley on 14 July. Our Pollination Education Station (PES) Trail across Sussex received national recognition for its contribution to supporting pollinators and educating communities about the vital role they play in our environment.  Read more

How to help butterflies thrive

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Sadly, of the UK’s 59 butterfly species, 33 have been in decline in recent years, with favourites like the once common Small Tortoiseshell on the brink of disappearing altogether in parts of southeast England. But there are lots of ways we can all help our butterflies thrive. You can get involved by volunteering with a local conservation group such as Wild About Warnham, or your local branch of Butterfly Conservation. Or why not take some simple steps to make your garden more butterfly-friendly?   Read more

Geoff Hunt

Wild Gardening: creating a beautiful refuge for wildlife

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Across the UK, many natural spaces have become either overly tidy or ecologically depleted. Hedges and scrubland have been cleared, wildlife habitats have disappeared and large areas of farmland are regularly treated with pesticides and weedkillers. 

Our gardens can help fill this gap by providing much-needed refuge for wildlife. In fact, suburban gardens now support more hedgehogs than much of the surrounding countryside. 

With a few simple changes to the way we manage our outdoor spaces, we can help reverse this decline and create places where nature can thrive.  Read more

How to Develop Healthier Soil That Pollinators Can’t Resist

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Did you know a bee needs to visit 660 flowers to make just one drop of honey? And that a third of our food is thanks to the pollinators? Pollinators, which include bees, butterflies, moths, beetles and even birds and bats, are vital to our ecosystems and biodiversity.

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Donations set to double in national campaign

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Following a competitive application process, Sussex Green Living has been selected to take part in the Big Give Earth Raise—a national match-funding campaign launching on Earth Day 22 April. 

From noon Wednesday 22 April to noon Wednesday 29 April every donation made through the campaign will be matched, meaning a £50 donation becomes £100 to support the charity’s work across Sussex. 

Run by Big Give, the campaign brings together philanthropists, foundations, and businesses to match public donations. Over the years, Big Give has raised approximately £427 million for thousands of charities. NOTE: 30th April – WE ACHIEVED OUR TARGET!

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Sussex Green Living

Collaboration for Nature: Charity and Business Partnership Creates Outdoor Learning Space at Thakeham Primary School

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As part of their action for World Climate Day on 23rd March, Sussex Green Living partnered in a brand-new way with local business to extend regional nature recovery efforts. Last week proved to be a very exciting time for Thakeham Primary School, as pupils became the proud recipients of a brand-new outdoor learning area thanks to a collaboration between Sussex Green Living, local business Mountjoy, and a network of community partners working together for nature.   

The project forms part of Sussex Green Living’s Pollination Education Station (PES) Trail, an initiative designed to improve food security, support pollinators and provide accessible environmental education. The trail is supported by the charity’s Green Business Network, which enables businesses to work alongside the charity, educate their staff about sustainability and use corporate volunteering days to take meaningful action for climate and nature.  Read more

Nature is Still Sleeping

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It’s nearly Spring and our natural inclination is to clean up, tidy away and be ready for relaxing in the garden. It seems ‘natural’ to spray weeds and reach for quick-fix garden cleaners — but actually it’s not helpful to Nature! 

If we think about the hidden life that quietly depends on those fallen leaves, last season’s stems, and the “untidy” parts of our gardens, we begin to realise that what looks like mess to us is lifeline to essential organisms.  Read more

Delay your big garden tidy-up: Nature needs the mess 

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Nature is still sleeping, so the best thing you can do is sit back and relax. Delay your spring garden clean-up until temperatures are consistently above 10°C for at least a week—often late April or when apple trees bloom. Top tips for an untidy garden and its benefits:

  • Wait and Observe: Let the garden “sleep in” to support local ecology. 
  • Protect Pollinators: Many butterflies, bees, and beneficial insects overwinter in dead, hollowed-out plant stems and fallen leaves. 
  • Delay Lawn Care: Avoid mowing, walking on the lawn or wet spring soil to prevent damaging its structure. Soil compaction restricts air and water movement, leading to poor drainage, waterlogging, and limited root growth. It is better to wait until the soil is dry enough to not form a ball in your hand.  

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