Author Huw Morgan
common blue / Sophie May Lewis
The wildlife garden on the Craven Vale estate in East Brighton is in full bloom and alive with bees, butterflies, spiders and insects. Working with local residents for over two years, Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Access to Nature project has helped to transform an area of the grassland around the housing blocks into an oasis of biodiversity.
Planting a wide range of locally sourced native wild flowers and herbs such as greater knapweed, birds foot trefoil, marjoram and thyme the area provides a prolonged and varied nectar source for bees and butterflies and attracts chalk downland species including the common blue from the nearby Whitehawk Hill Local Nature Reserve into the heart of the estate.
Work is on-going with a new area of the estate recently being sown with a mix of meadow seed and planted with native plants. In consultation with the Brighton & Hove City Council, the area around this is being left un-mown over the summer months to allow the wildlife to flourish.
Craven Vale in bloom / Huw Morgan
