We’re wild about a lot of things here at Festival Place – whether that’s bringing you great shopping, fantastic food or brilliant days out – but something's been bugging us lately... we realised we could be creating a more nature-friendly environment.
The Beardy Gardener created us a gorgeous sensory garden just outside the centre last year with lots of healing plants and flowers to boost our mental health and wellbeing.
Now we have set aside another area where we are allowing the grass to grow, and we’ve added Bee Bomb wildflowers, hedgehog houses, bird boxes and a bug hotel.
Our wildflower area will attract a variety of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths, which are essential for plant reproduction, and the flowers will provide a source of nectar and pollen for insects, birds, and other animals.
This space will be a fantastic habitat for insects like ladybirds, lacewings, and parasitic wasps, which help control pests, and the wildflowers will improve soil health by adding organic matter and reducing soil erosion.
Meanwhile, our bird boxes provide a safe place for birds to nest and raise their young.
By providing nesting sites, we are supporting the local bird population and helping to conserve species – and watching birds nesting and raising their young is a fascinating and rewarding experience.
We’re also looking out for our more prickly customers, with new hedgehog houses providing a safe and warm shelter for hedgehogs during harsh weather conditions or when they're hibernating.
We’re hoping we can help boost the local hedgehog population, which also helps control insect populations as hedgehogs feed on pests like slugs and snails.
Insects such as beetles, ants, and wasps, which are essential for ecosystem health, can check into our new bug hotel, and by providing a habitat for beneficial insects, we can help control pest populations naturally.
By creating this new wildlife-friendly area, we want to educate children and others about the importance of conservation and biodiversity, and we also hope our visitors will love watching an area that we hope will soon be bustling with wildlife.
You can find our new wildlife zone as you exit the Eastrop Roundabout when entering Festival Place.