The number of nature lovers who took part in the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch soared to a million people this winter after a year of lockdown restrictions saw people turn to nature for comfort.
Now in its 42nd year, the Big Garden Birdwatch is a chance for people of all ages to count the number of birds that visit their garden, helping the RSPB build up a picture of how birds are faring. This year, over a million people across the country took part counting 17 million birds, with over 28,800 taking part across Devon.
Hopes were raised for a bumper participation year after...
A Tiverton boarding school has purchased a new fleet of grounds equipment after securing a six-figure funding package from HSBC UK as part of a wider overhaul of the grounds within the school’s 120-acre site.
Blundell’s School switched banks to HSBC UK in October 2020 and has used additional funding from the bank to purchase a fleet of high-quality grounds equipment, including tractors, a four-meter-long mower and a turf conditioner. Head Groundsman Graham Cox, who joined Blundell’s last January, has seen improvements on many fronts thanks to the new equipment.
Householders in Exeter may soon be able to take advantage of a variety of council-run garden and landscaping services.
Exeter City Council is looking to broaden out a number of its services like landscape gardening and path and patio laying.
“The City Council is a trusted and established brand,” said Cllr David Harvey, Lead Councillor for City Management.
“And what we have built up over the years in our parks and open spaces, is a highly experienced team capable of delivering some first class projects across the city,” he added.
Budding conservationists across the country are now able to develop vital nature conservation skills throughout the second lockdown without leaving their own gardens, thanks to the work of Devon based nature conservation organisation Ambios and Ufi charitable trust, revealed at the week of VocTech – an event celebrating the best of vocational technology.
With recent research revealing that a quarter of native mammals are now at risk of extinction in the UK, and as second lockdown restrictions disrupt conservation work across the country, Ambios and Ufi are overcoming physical...
The seven remaining East Devon District Council gardens which have been closed since the coronavirus lockdown will reopen from tomorrow. (Wednesday May 13)
The decision has been reviewed following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Sunday where new measures for exercise were introduced. Although the gardens will reopen, the council is reiterating that the strict social distancing measures must be followed by everyone.
Last month, the council reopened the majority of the district’s large or easy to access park sites after they were closed due to the lockdown measures...
This year's garden competition saw 48 East Devon tenants competing for the ultimate prize of Best in Show 2019
The tenants of East Devon District Council have excelled themselves in this year's Tenants' Gardening Competition with an outstanding selection of garden entries.
There were 48 entries in this year's competition, which is an annual event organised by Bev Anderson, Tenant Participation Assistant in the Housing Service at East Devon District Council.
Horticultural Consultant Kieron Bewes kindly agreed to judge the competition and used the Royal Horticultural...
The RSPB is celebrating a very special anniversary of its world famous Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend (26-28 January).
Just one hour every year, for the last 40 years, has made the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch the largest garden wildlife citizen science project. During that time, hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered their time providing the RSPB with over 8 million hours of monitoring garden birds.
Over the last four decades, an astonishing 130 million birds have been counted giving the RSPB real insight into how our birds are faring.
What do zoo gardeners get each other for Christmas? A plant, of course – but not just any old plant. Gardeners at Paignton Zoo in Devon have given their colleagues at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire a Titan arum – one of the largest and smelliest plants in the world.
Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) blooms can be up to 3 metres high and 3 metres in circumference and smell like rotting meat. To be honest, this one looks a bit underwhelming right now – there’s no foliage, just the tuber, the swollen food store found underneath the soil. Big plants need big tubers – this one is more than...
More than 2,000 pledges to recycle food waste has been made by Devon residents, thanks to a prize draw.
Last month Devon residents were given the chance to win a composting bin - if they pledged online to compost their kitchen or garden waste.
The prize draw was all part of a county-wide initiative by Recycle Devon, a partnership of 10 councils including Devon County Council, eight district authorities and one unitary council.
The aim was to encourage more people to either compost food or garden waste at home or make use of their food waste collection in areas where...
Six gardens near Kingsteignton will be opening their gates to members of the public, to raise vital funds for Rowcroft Hospice in June. The ‘Orchard Open Gardens’ event will take place on 18 June from 12 noon to 5pm. Entry will be £5 per person, with free entry for children. One of the gardens is owned by Liz Allen, a partner with Exeter law firm Stephens Scown LLP, and Trustee of Rowcroft. She says: “The gardens are all so different. Ours is a walled garden, with deep herbaceous borders, a water garden, summerhouse and an ancient orchard. The other gardens include a lovely traditional...
